Salvatore Lima - politician
Christian Democrat MEP murdered by Mafia
Salvatore Lima, a politician strongly suspected of being the
Sicilian Mafia’s ‘man in Rome’ until he was shot dead near his seaside villa in
1992, was born on this day in 1928 in Palermo.
The Christian Democrat MEP, usually known as Salvo, had long been
suspected of corruption, from his days as Mayor of Palermo in the 1950s and 60s
to his time as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, between 1968 and 1979, when
he formed a close association with Giulio Andreotti, the three-times Italian
prime minister whose rise to power was helped considerably by the support Lima
was able to garner for him in Sicily.
Lima's links with the Mafia were established by a magistrates’ enquiry
into his death when it was concluded that he was killed on the orders of the
then all-powerful Mafia boss Salvatore ‘Toto’ Riina as an act of revenge
following Lima’s failure to have sentences against 342 mafiosi accused in the
so-called 'maxi-trial' of 1986-87 annulled or at least reduced. He had allegedly promised his Cosa Nostra
paymasters that he would see to it that a Supreme Court judge with a reputation
for overturning sentences against suspected Mafia members was appointed
prosecutor. Read more…
Silvio Gazzaniga - sculptor
Milanese artist who designed FIFA World Cup trophy
Silvio Gazzaniga, the sculptor and medal-maker who created
the trophy held aloft every four years by the winners of football’s World Cup,
was born in Milan on this day in 1921.
Gazzaniga designed the trophy, with its spiralling lines depicting two
players, with arms outstretched in triumph, carrying a globe on their
shoulders, in 1971, after entering a competition organised by football’s world
governing body, FIFA. The organisation
had been faced with a dilemma after the 1970 World Cup, when champions Brazil
earned the right to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy, the prize for which the
competition was originally played, by winning for the third time. In the knowledge that they would need a new
trophy before the next tournament, in 1974, they invited designers to submit
their ideas, eventually collecting 53 proposals from artists all over the
world. Among them was the submission from Gazzaniga, a football fan and the
artistic director of Bertoni, a small firm making medals and trophies now based
at Paderno Dugnano, a town on the outskirts of Milan. Gazzaniga did much of his work in a modest
studio in the artists’ quarter of the Lombardy capital. Read more…
Luisa Casati – heiress and muse
Outrageous marchioness saw herself as a living work of art
The heiress, socialite and artist’s muse Luisa Casati, known
for her outlandish dresses, exotic pets and hedonistic lifestyle, was born on
this day in 1881 in Milan. Casati, born
into a wealthy background, married a marquis – Camillo, Marchese Casati Stampa
di Soncino – when she was 19 and provided him with a daughter, Cristina, a year
later, yet the marriage was never strong and they kept separate residences from
an early stage. It was not long before
she tired of a life bound by formalities and the strict rules of etiquette and
everything changed after she met the poet, patriot and lothario Gabriele
D’Annunzio at a society hunt. They
became lovers and D’Annunzio introduced her to the world of writers and
artists. Tall, almost painfully thin and
with striking looks, she became a creature of fascination for many young
artists, who craved the attention of this eccentric aristocrat and the chance
to paint her. Their interest only
encouraged the Marchesa Casati to indulge her taste for the extravagant, posing
in ever-more outlandish dresses, embracing the culture of the Belle Époque. Her
wealth enabled her to throw lavish parties.
Read more…
Giovanni Michelotti – car designer
The many Triumphs of Turin sports car genius
One of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the
20th century, Giovanni Michelotti died on this day in 1980 in Turin. Known for his hard work and creative talent,
Michelotti has been credited with designing more than 1200 different cars. He worked for Ferrari, Lancia and Maserati in
Italy but car firms abroad soon got to know about him and he also designed for
Triumph and BMW. Michelotti was born in
Turin in 1921 and worked for coach building firms before opening his own design
studio in 1959. The first of his designs
put into production was for an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 in 1947. Among the legendary sports cars designed by
Michelotti in Italy are the Ferrari 166 MM and the Maserati Sebring. In Britain he was responsible for many
successful Triumphs, including the famous Spitfire, Stag and TR4. He also
designed buses and trucks for British Leyland.
Under his own name he designed a beach car, the Shellette, with wicker
seats. Only about 80 were made, but among the buyers were the Dutch royal
family, who used it at their summer property in Porto Ercole, and Jacqueline
Onassis. Read more…
Muzio Clementi – composer and pianist
Musician is remembered as ‘father of the piano’
Composer Muzio Clementi, whose studies and sonatas helped
develop the technique of the early pianoforte, was born on this day in 1752 in
Rome. He moved to live in England when
he was young, where he became a successful composer and pianist and started a
music publishing and piano manufacturing business. He also helped to found the
Royal Philharmonic Society in London.
Clementi was baptised Mutius Philippus Vincentius Franciscus Xaverius
the day after his birth at the Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso in Rome. His father was a silversmith, who soon
recognised Clementi’s musical talent and arranged for him to have lessons from
a relative, who was maestro di cappella at St Peter’s Basilica. By the time he was 13, Clementi had already
composed an oratorio and a mass and he became the organist at his parish
church, San Lorenzo in Damaso, at the age of 14. Sir Peter Beckford, a wealthy Englishman, was
so impressed with Clementi’s musical talent and his skill with the harpsichord
when he visited Rome in 1766 that he offered to take him to England and sponsor
his musical education until he was 21.
Read more…
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Book of the Day: The Boss of Bosses: The Life of the Infamous Toto Riina - Dreaded Head of the Sicilian Mafia, by Attilio Bolzoni and Giuseppe D'Avanzo
This is the true story of Totò Riina, the Cosa Nostra boss who rose from nothing to become the most powerful man in Sicily. The picture emerges of a bloodthirsty, power-hungry monster who, despite his lowly beginnings, is able to outmanoeuvre the other Mafia chiefs and take control of the organisation. However, the story is not just that of Riina, but also of Sicily itself. D'Avanzo and Bolzoni have transformed a complex series of events spanning several decades into a gripping narrative. In prison for 18 years now, Totò Riina still remains the dictator of the Cosa Nostra. The Boss of Bosses: The Life of the Infamous Toto Riina tells the haunting and disturbing tale.Giuseppe D'Avanzo was an Italian journalist and writer, author of important investigations carried out for the newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera. Attilio Bolzoni is an Italian journalist who writes for Domani, dealing mainly with mafia crime. He and D'Avanzo co-operated on a number of books.
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