Luisa Sanfelice - executed aristocrat

'Heroine' may have been accidental revolutionary 

Gioacchino Toma's painting, Luisa Sanfelice in 
Prison, in the National Museum of Capodimente

Luisa Sanfelice, an aristocrat executed on the orders of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies because of her involvement with the French-backed Parthenopean Republic, was born on this day in 1764 in Naples.

Sanfelice was hailed as a heroine by supporters of the short-lived republic after revealing a plot among monarchist supporters to stage a violent uprising and reinstate Ferdinand and his wife, Queen Maria Carolina, who had been ousted by an invading French army in 1799. 

She ultimately paid for her actions with her life when King Ferdinand - known also as Ferdinand IV of Naples - returned to power, yet historians believe she had no strong loyalty to either side and perhaps the unwitting victim of her own circumstances, which cast her as a revolutionary almost by accident.

Born Maria Luisa Fortunata de Molina, the daughter of Bourbon general of Spanish origin, she became Luisa Sanfelice - sometimes known as Luigia - at the age of 17 after marrying a dissolute Neapolitan nobleman, Andrea Sanfelice.

Despite their lack of means, the young newlyweds enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle, running up huge debts, which only worsened when the marriage produced three children.

King Ferdinand had Sanfelice killed 
for her part in a failed insurrection 

At the behest of Luisa’s mother, the couple’s children were taken away and put into the care of a convent. Luisa and Andrea were effectively exiled to the Sanfelice family estate near Agropoli in the Cilento region of what is now southern Campania. 

When even these measures failed to curb their excesses, they were forcibly separated, Luisa placed in a conservatory at Montecorvino Rovella, a village in the mountains above Salerno, Andrea in a convent in Nocera, some 40km (25 miles) away. Both managed to escape their captivity and returned to Naples and their home in the Palazzo Mastelloni in the centre of the city, on what is now Piazza Carità.

In 1797, however, Andrea was arrested and thrown into a debtors’ prison.

Luisa’s life now took a different course, ultimately leading to her downfall. 

She began to attend the city’s salons, where wealthy members of society would rub shoulders with artists and intellectuals. Luisa had no political affiliations, mixing with monarchists as comfortably as with republicans. Still a relatively young woman, Luisa inevitably attracted male attention.

One of her suitors was Gerardo Baccher, an officer in the royal army who was loyal to Ferdinand. It was he who confided in her about the plot, for which he and his co-conspirators, had enlisted the help of the Bourbons and of the British fleet under the leadership of Horatio Nelson, to explode bombs during a festival in Naples, and in the ensuing chaos kill the Republic leaders and take control of the city.

Aware that having such knowledge might put her in danger, she asked Gerardo for a safe conduct warrant, so that her life would be spared after the insurrection had taken place. Baccher, smitten with her, willingly acceded to her request. 

Actress Laetitia Casta played 
Sanfelice in a 2004 TV drama

Unbeknown to him, Luisa had become enamoured with a young republican, Ferdinando Ferri. Fearing for his safety, she warned Ferri of what was being planned and handed her safe conduct warrant to him. Ferri duly reported the plot to the authorities, after which Baccher, his brother and others were arrested and killed by firing squad in the courtyard of the Castel Nuovo.

Luisa’s part in the foiling of this plot might never have come to light had it not been for Eleonora Pimentel Fonseca, a journalist and a major figure in the republican movement, who wrote an editorial in Monitore Napoletano, the republican periodical, in which she felt compelled to name ‘one of our distinguished fellow citizens, Luisa Molina Sanfelice, [who] revealed to the government on Friday evening the conspiracy of a few people who were no more wicked than idiots’, adding that ‘Our Republic must not fail to perpetuate the fact and the name of this illustrious citizen.’

After the Parthenopean Republic did collapse, in June 1799, only six months after coming into existence, and King Ferdinand resumed his rule, Luisa was promptly arrested and condemned to death.

She won a stay of execution by claiming she was pregnant, her assertion supported by two doctors in Naples. But Ferdinand sent her to Palermo to see another physician, who determined that she was not pregnant. She was ultimately executed on September 11, 1800.

Luisa Sanfelice’s story has captured the imagination of writers, painters and film-makers, old and new. 

The celebrated 19th century French writer and playwright, Alexandre Dumas père, made her the protagonist of his novel, La sanfelice, which was turned into a film, Luisa Sanfelice, directed by Leo Menardi in 1942. The most recent interpretation of the story for the screen was a TV film made in 2004, directed by the Taviani brothers, Paolo and Vittorio.

The story also inspired works of art in the 19th century, notably Modesto Faustini's canvas The Arrest of Luisa Sanfelice and several by Gioacchino Toma, who created Sanfelice Taken to Prison in Palermo (1855), Sanfelice's Cell (approx 1876), and two versions of Luisa Sanfelice in Prison, which are considered as Italian masterpieces.

The staircase inside the 
Palazzo Mastelloni in Naples

Travel tip:

The Sanfelice family’s home in Naples was in the Palazzo Mastelloni, a palace on the Piazza Carità, a square on the Via Toledo in central Naples. They occupied the first floor of the palace, which has existed at least since the 16th century and in which the Mastellone family had an interest since the late 17th century. At the time of Luisa Sanfelice’s arrest in 1799, it was owned by the Marquess Emanuele Mastellone, a minister in the Parthenopean Republic The palace was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1732, after which the Mastelloni bought the entire building and decided to renovate it in Rococo style, the work being carried out under the supervision of Nicola Tagliacozzi Canale, a Neapolitan architect active between about 1723 and 1760.  Among the most striking architectural features of the building is the elliptical staircase with two symmetrical ramps that rises from the first floor courtyard and which was designed with Luisa Sanfelice’s input.

Agropoli's harbour, seen from the elevated 
position of the Cilento town's historic centre

Travel tip:

Agropoli, where the Safelice family owned an estate to which Luisa and Andrea were exiled after running up huge debts in Naples, is a seaside town in Campania at the start of the Cilento coastline. Its name comes from the strategic hilltop location of the old part of the town, which took the name Acropolis, meaning high town, during Greek rule of the area. Byzantines, Saracens and Aragonese all left their mark on its architecture and culture, notably via the Aragonese Castle, on top of the elevated promontory, which offers breathtaking views.  The area is renowned for crystal-clear waters and picturesque beaches, as well as having a historic centre with narrow, winding streets and historical buildings. While preserving its historical charm, Agropoli also offers modern amenities around a bustling harbour, including a variety of restaurants and shops.  It is a popular location for Italian tourists, in particular. 

Also on this day:

1783: The birth of poet and academic Gabriele Rossetti

1907: The birth of entrepreneur Domenico Agusta

1915: The birth of jam and juice maker Karl Zuegg

1940: The birth of racing driver Mario Andretti

1942: The birth of goalkeeper and coach Dino Zoff

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Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel – poet and revolutionary

Noblewoman who sacrificed her life for the principle of liberty

Eleonora Fonseca Partinel was inspired by the
French Revolution to join the Jacobins

A writer and leader of the movement that established the Parthenopean Republic in Naples, Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel was hanged on this day in 1799 in a public square near the port.

A noblewoman, she would have expected her execution to be carried out by beheading, but had given up her title of marchioness when she became involved with the Jacobins, founded by supporters of the French Revolution, who were working to overthrow the monarchy.

Pimentel had asked to be beheaded anyway, but the restored Bourbon monarchy showed her no mercy, reputedly because she had written pamphlets denouncing Queen Maria Carolina as a lesbian.

On the day of her execution, Pimentel was reputed to have stepped calmly up to the gallows, quoting Virgil by saying: ‘Perhaps one day this will be worth remembering.’ She was 47 years of age.

Pimentel was born in Rome in 1752 into a noble Portuguese family. As a child she wrote poetry, read Latin and Greek and learnt to speak several languages.

Her family had to move to Naples because of political difficulties between Portugal and the Papal States, of which Rome was the capital.

A plaque marks the birthplace of
Pimentel in Campo Marzio in Rome

As an adult, Pimentel became part of literary circles in Naples and exchanged letters with other literary figures.

She had a long correspondence with Pietro Metastasio, the Italian court poet in Vienna, who was a prominent librettist at the time, and Voltaire, the French writer, who was an outspoken advocate for civil liberties.

Pimentel married a lieutenant in the Neapolitan army and gave birth to a son, Francesco, who died at the age of eight months. She had no other children as she suffered two subsequent miscarriages, following alleged mistreatment by her husband, and eventually the couple separated.

In the 1790s Pimentel became involved in the Jacobin movement in Naples, which was working to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic. She was one of the leaders of the revolution that installed the Pathenopean Republic in the city in January 1799, which was proclaimed from the Certosa di San Martino, citing liberty and equality for all along the lines of the French model.

Pimentel was the director of Monitore Napoletano, the republic’s newspaper, for which she wrote most of the content. She also translated books and articles into the Neapolitan dialect to try to win popular support. When the republic was overthrown, after just five months, she was arrested on the orders of the restored Bourbon monarchy and sentenced to death.

The Certosa di San Martino occupies a commanding
position on too of the Vomero hill

Travel tip:

The Certosa di San Martino in Naples, from which the short-lived republic was proclaimed, is a former monastery complex that is now a museum. It is one of the most visible landmarks of the city, perched high on the Vomero hill overlooking the bay. Today the museum houses paintings, porcelain, jewellery, Neapolitan costumes, and old presepi, nativity scenes made in the city.  

The Piazza Mercato is an open space not far from the main
port of Naples between Corso Umberto I and the waterfront 

Travel tip:

Piazza Mercato, where Pimentel and her fellow revolutionaries were executed, is in the heart of Naples not far from the port. Overlooked by the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, it had been the setting for many other historic events in the city, including the beheading in 1268 of Corradino, a 16-year-old King of Naples.

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