10 September

Liliana Segre - holocaust survivor

Schoolgirl who was spared after family killed

Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre, who was one of only a small number of Italian children to return home after being deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War, was born on this day in 1930 in Milan.  Now a life member of the Italian Senate, Segre was shipped to the notorious camp in Nazi-occupied Poland when she was 13 years old, one of 776 Italians aged 14 and under to be sent to Auschwitz. Only 35 survived.  Forced to work in a munitions factory, she was twice moved to other camps during her time as a prisoner before being freed in May 1945, shortly after the Nazis surrendered to the Allies.  Born into a successful Jewish family involved in the textile and leather goods industry, Liliana grew up in an apartment in Corso Magenta in the centre of Milan, not far from the Castello Sforzesco. Read more…

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Giovanni Gronchi – Italy’s third president

Opponent of Mussolini became head of state in 1955

Christian Democrat politician Giovanni Gronchi, who served as President of Italy from 1955 to 1962, was born on this day in 1887 at Pontedera in Tuscany.  He was elected to the Camera dei Deputati in 1919 and went on to become leader of a group of deputies opposed to Mussolini, but when the Fascist government suppressed this group he put his political career on hold.  Gronchi returned to politics towards the end of the Second World War and helped found the new Christian Democrat party. In 1955 he was chosen as the third President of the Republic of Italy, succeeding Luigi Einaudi.  His presidency was notable for his attempt to open a door into government for the Italian Socialist and Communist parties, which ultimately failed.  As a young man, Gronchi had obtained a degree in Literature and Philosophy at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Read more… 

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Elsa Schiaparelli - fashion designer

Clothes inspired by Surrealist art 

The designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who is regarded along with her rival Coco Chanel as one of the key figures in the fashion world between the two World Wars, was born on this day in 1890 in Rome.  Heavily influenced by the Surrealist cultural movement – the artists Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau were among her collaborators – she became a favourite of some of the world’s most recognisable women, including the actresses Greta Garbo and Mae West, the singer and actress Marlene Dietrich, and the socialite and heiress Daisy Fellowes.  Her style shaped the look of fashion in the 1920s and 1930s, often featuring elements of the trompe l’oeil artistic technique to create optical illusions, such as the evening coat she designed with Cocteau that featured two female profiles facing one another which, viewed another way, created the impression of a vase for the fabric roses adorning the shoulders and neck.  Read more…

Historic victory at Rome Olympics

Bikila's golden moment for African athletics

History was made on this day at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome when Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila won the marathon.  Not only did he run the whole 26 mile 385 yards (42.195km) barefoot, he also became the first athlete from sub-Saharan Africa to win an Olympic gold medal.  Bikila retained the marathon title at Tokyo in 1964.  Subsequently, the middle and long-distance running events have become increasingly dominated by sub-Saharan runners, particularly Kenyans and Ethiopians.  The British runner Mo Farah - born in Somalia - continued that domination by winning both the 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals at consecutive summer Olympics in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.  In total, more than 40 gold medals at distances from 800m to the marathon have been won by sub-Saharan runners since Bikila's breakthrough.  Read more…

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The wedding of Stefano Türr and Adelina Bonaparte

Hungarian General married Napoleon’s beautiful great niece

The wedding of a Hungarian soldier who fought alongside Giuseppe Garibaldi to a woman who was the great niece of Napoleon Bonaparte took place on this day in 1861 in Mantua in Lombardy.  The bridegroom was Stefano Türr - Istvan Türr in Hungarian - a soldier, revolutionary, canal architect and engineer, who is remembered in Italy for the role he played in the battle for the country’s unification.  Türr took a major part in the Expedition of the Thousand and was promoted to General, commanding Italian troops as they moved north from Sicily to Salerno. He was appointed Governor of Salerno by Garibaldi. Victor Emanuel II made him an aide de camp and entrusted him with sensitive diplomatic matters.  The bride was Adelina Bonaparte Wyse, who was a cousin of Napoleon III of France and granddaughter of Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon I’s brother.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism, by Alexander Stille 

In Italy Jews and fascists coexisted as nowhere else - there were even Jewish members of the Italian Fascist Party. Both before and during the war, the experience of Jews in Italy was a strange mixture of sympathy and brutal persecution, benevolence and betrayal. Through the stories of five Jewish families, this book recreates the historical and social background of the period in which Jews confidently believed in their safety and comfort as unimagined disaster approached. Commentary Magazine’s reviewer said: “The strength of this book lies not in any abstract formulations or general truths, whether about Italians, Jews, or human nature. Rather it derives from the voices of human beings, ordinary and extraordinary, as they reach us through deftly handled interviews, letters, and diaries. At its best, Benevolence and Betrayal confirms what Primo Levi said about the ‘sorrowful, cruel, and moving stories’ of himself and his fellow captives at Auschwitz.” Chosen by the Time Literary Supplement as one of the best books of 1992, Benevolence and Betrayal received the Los Angeles Times Book Award for history.

Alexander Stille is an American author and journalist. From 1990 until 1993, he reported on Italy for US News and World Report, The Boston Globe and the Toronto Globe and Mail, while contributing long articles to The New Yorker and The Atlantic. He is also the author of Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic.

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