14 August

Enzo Ferrari – car maker

Entrepreneur turned Ferrari into world’s most famous marque

Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari motor racing team and later the Ferrari sports car factory, died on this day in 1988 at the age of 90.  Known widely as Il commendatore, he passed away in Maranello, a town in Emilia-Romagna a few kilometres from Modena, where he had a house, the Villa Rosa, literally opposite Ferrari’s headquarters, where he continued to supervise operations almost to his death. He had reportedly been suffering from kidney disease.  Since the first Ferrari racing car was built in 1947 and the Scuderia Ferrari team’s famous prancing stallion symbol has been carried to victory in 244 Formula One Grand Prix races and brought home 15 drivers’ championships and 16 manufacturers’ championship. Always an exclusive marque, the number of Ferraris produced for road use since the company began to build cars for sale rather than simply to race is in excess of 150,000.  Born Enzo Anselmo Ferrari in 1898 in Modena, he attended his first motor race in Bologna at the age of 10 and developed a passion for fast cars rivalled only by his love of opera.  He endured tragedy in 1916 when both his brother and his father died in a 'flu epidemic and was fortunate to survive another epidemic two years later.  Read more…

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Giorgio Chiellini - footballer

Juventus star renowned for defensive excellence

The footballer Giorgio Chiellini - captain of the Italy team that won the delayed Euro 2020 tournament and renowned as one of the world’s best defenders - was born on this day in 1984 in Pisa.  Chiellini has played for much of his career at Juventus, winning an incredible seven consecutive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2018, as well as numerous other trophies.  He was Serie A Defender of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and in 2017 was named in Juventus’s Greatest XI of All Time.  He also earned 97 caps for the Italy national team before announcing his retirement from international football in 2017, although he was persuaded to change his mind by new coach Roberto Mancini, the sixth coach he had worked for in the national team. Until the victory over England at Wembley made Italy European champions, all of Chiellini’s successes were in domestic football.  He was considered too young and inexperienced to be part of Marcello Lippi’s 2006 World Cup squad and has also so far missed out on success in European club competitions. He missed the 2015 Champions League final, which Juventus lost to Barcelona in Berlin, and finished on the losing side in the 2017 Champions League final, when the Italian champions were thumped 4-0 by Read Madrid in Cardiff.  Read more…

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The Martyrs of Otranto

Victims of massacre made saints

More than 800 male inhabitants of the southern Italian city of Otranto were beheaded on this day in 1480 by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire.  Legend has it that these men - 813 in total from the age of 15 upwards - were the only male survivors after Otranto, a port city some 35km (22 miles) southeast of Lecce, was captured by the Ottomans at the end of a 15-day siege.  According to some accounts, a total of 12,000 people were killed and 5,000 mainly women and children were enslaved, including victims from the territories of the Salentine peninsula around the city.  The 813 were supposedly offered clemency in return for their conversion to Islam but all refused, taking their lead from a tailor called Antonio Primaldi, who is said to have proclaimed: "Now it is time for us to fight to save our souls for the Lord. And since he died on the cross for us, it is fitting that we should die for him."  As a consequence of their defiance, the 813 were led to the Hill of Minerva just south of the city and beheaded one by one, Primaldi being the first to be slain.  Otranto was recaptured the following year by Alfonso of Aragon, a condottiero who would later be crowned King of Naples.  Read more…

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Benito Carbone - footballer and coach

Gifted forward sparkled in English Premier League

The footballer and coach Benito Carbone, whose partnership with fellow Italian Paolo di Canio in the colours of Sheffield Wednesday was the highlight of a six-year stay in England’s Premier League, was born on this day in 1971 in Bagnara Calabra, a seaside village in Calabria.  Carbone signed for Sheffield Wednesday from Inter-Milan in 1996 as Italian players arrived in England in large numbers for the first time. The influx included other star names, such as Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Roberto Di Matteo and Stefano Eranio.  Wednesday paid £3 million for Carbone, spending a further £4.2 million on Di Canio the following year. Between them, they scored 43 goals for the Yorkshire club, Carbone netting 26.   They both enjoyed enormous popularity with supporters. Carbone was voted the club’s player of the year in the 1998-99 season.  While in England, Carbone played also for Aston Villa and Bradford City, spending time on loan with both Derby County and Middlesbrough, scoring goals for each of those clubs.  Read more…

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Pope Pius VII

Compromise candidate elected by conclave-in-exile in Venice

Pope Pius VII was born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti on this day in 1742 in Cesena in Emilia-Romagna.  He was elected Pope in a conclave that was forced to meet on the island of San Giorgio in Venice in 1799 because Rome was occupied by the French.  He was crowned with a papier mâché version of the Papal tiara in 1800 because the French had seized the original.  It was the last conclave to be held outside Rome.  Chiaramonti was a monk of the order of Saint Benedict as well as being a distinguished theologian. He was granted the title, Servant of God, by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.  Chiaramonti had joined the order of Saint Benedict at the age of 14. He was later ordained as a priest and went on to teach at Benedictine colleges in Parma and Rome.  After one of his relatives was elected Pope Pius VI, Chiaramonti had a series of promotions that resulted in him becoming a Cardinal.  When the French revolutionary army invaded Italy in 1797, Cardinal Chiaramonti advised people to submit to the newly-created Cisalpine Republic, set up to rule in northern Italy by the French.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Enzo Ferrari: A Life, by Richard Williams

For tens of millions of people around the world, a single name evokes the world of speed - Enzo Ferrari. Today's Formula One would be unthinkable without the presence of the Ferrari cars on the grid. Win or lose, Ferrari attracts more fans than all the other teams combined. And the cars unique appeal - their mystique, their myth - has its origins in the story of one man with a dictator's will and the cunning of a Machiavelli.  Going back to the origins of "The Old Man", tracing his remarkable rise to prominence, and using sources which have hitherto remained silent, Richard Williams tells the story of a man who was one of the key figures of sport in the twentieth century, and whose influence over his sport is undiminished today, more than a decade after his death. In Enzo Ferrari: A Life, Williams expertly unravels the myths from the facts in a clear and authoritative account and an engrossing read.

Richard Williams is a British music and sports journalist.  A former chief sports writer of The Guardian, he has written several books on Formula One, including The Death of Ayrton Senna, Racers and The Last Road Race, a study of the changing balance in Formula One between British and Italian teams, using the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix as the backdrop.

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13 August

Aurelio Saffi – republican activist

Politician prominent in Risorgimento movement

The politician Aurelio Saffi, who was a close ally of the republican revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini during Italy’s move towards unification in the 19th century, was born on this day in 1819 in Forlì.  He was a member of the short-lived Roman Republic of 1849, which was crushed by French troops supporting the temporarily deposed Pope Pius IX, and was involved in the planning of an uprising in Milan in 1853.  Saffi was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his part in the Milan plot but by then had fled to England.  He returned to Italy in 1860 and when the Risorgimento realised its aim with unification Saffi was appointed a deputy in the first parliament of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.  At the time of Saffi’s birth, Forlì, now part of Emilia-Romagna, was part of the Papal States. He was educated in law in Ferrara, but became politically active in his native city, protesting against the administration of the Papal legates.  He soon became a fervent supporter of Mazzini, whose wish was to see Italy established as an independent republic and saw popular uprisings as part of the route to achieving his goal.  Read more…

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Domenico Dolce - fashion designer

One half of hugely successful Dolce & Gabbana company

The designer Domenico Dolce, whose partnership with Stefano Gabbana gave rise to one of the world’s most famous fashion houses, was born on this day in 1958 in Polizzi Generosa, a beautiful town set in the hills of northern Sicily, about 90km (56 miles) southeast of Palermo.  He and Gabbana, who he met in Milan, founded Dolce & Gabbana in 1985. The company took off in 1993 after the pop star Madonna chose them to design the costumes for a concert tour.  The company today generates about €1.3 billion in revenues and employs 5,500 people worldwide.  Dolce was born into the world of clothes. His father was a tailor and his mother worked in retail, at different times selling fabrics and lingerie.  He is said to have learned to sew at the age of six and made costumes for dolls.  After studying at art college in Palermo, Dolce moved to Milan to attend the fashion design school Istituto Marangoni. He already had dreams of working for Giorgio Armani and grew impatient to begin working in the fashion industry, dropping out of his course before completing it and taking a job in the sewing workshop of designer Giorgio Correggiari.  Read more…

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Camillo Olivetti - electrical engineer

Founder of Italy’s first typewriter factory Olivetti 

The electrical engineer Camillo Olivetti, who opened Italy’s first typewriter factory and founded a company that would become a major player in electronic business technology, was born on this day in 1868 in Ivrea in Piedmont.  The Olivetti company that later produced Italy’s first electronic computer was developed by Adriano Olivetti, the oldest of Camillo's five children, but it was his father’s vision and enterprise that laid the foundations for the brand’s success and established the Olivetti name.  Camillo came from a Jewish middle-class background. His father, Salvador Benedetto, was a successful merchant. His mother, Elvira, came from a banking family in Modena but her interests were more cultural. She was fluent in four languages.  Elvira had full care of Camillo after Salvador died when the boy was only one and sent him to boarding school in Milan at a young age.  Although his mother’s linguistic skills helped him - he learned English early in his life - she understood his inclination to work in electronics.  After graduating from the Royal Italian Industrial Museum (later the Polytechnic of Turin) with a diploma in industrial engineering, Camillo broadened his knowledge by travelling.  Read more…

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Salvador Luria – microbiologist

Award winning scientist who advanced medical research

Nobel prize winner Salvador Luria was born on this day as Salvatore Edoardo Luria in 1912 in Turin.  The microbiologist became famous for showing that bacterial resistance to viruses is genetically inherited and he was awarded a Nobel prize in 1969.  He studied in the medical school of the University of Turin and from 1936 to 1937 Luria served in the Italian army as a medical officer. He took classes in radiology at the University of Rome and began to formulate methods of testing genetic theory.  When Mussolini’s regime banned Jews from academic research fellowships, Luria moved to Paris but was forced to move again when the Nazis invaded France in 1940. Fearing for his life, he fled the capital on a bicycle, eventually reaching Marseille, where he received an immigration visa to the United States.  In America he met other scientists with whom he collaborated on experiments.  In 1943 Luria carried out an experiment with the scientist Max Delbruck that demonstrated that mutant bacteria can still bestow viral resistance without the virus being present.  He became chair of Microbiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy, by Derek Beales and Eugenio F Biagini

This book introduces the reader to the relationship between the Italian national movement, achieved by the Risorgimento, and the Italian unification in 1860. These themes are discussed in detail and related to the broader European theatre. Covering the literary, cultural, religious and political history of the period, Beales and Biagini show Italy struggled towards nation state status on all fronts.  The new edition has been thoroughly rewritten. It also contains a number of new documents. In addition, all the most up to date research of the last 20 years has been incorporated.  The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy remains the major text on nineteenth century Italy. The long introduction and useful footnotes will be of real assistance to those interested in Italian unification.

Derek Beales was a British historian. A former Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University, his books include the definitive work on the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II.  Eugenio F Biagini is an Italian historian, specialising in democracy and liberalism in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, Ireland and Italy.

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12 August

NEW - Giovanni Legrenzi – composer

Maestro’s Baroque music is still played today by enthusiasts

Organist and composer Giovanni Legrenzi, who was influential in the development of late Baroque music in Italy, was baptised on this day in 1626 at Clusone, near Bergamo, which was at the time part of the Republic of Venice.  Legrenzi was to become one of the most prominent composers of opera, vocal, and instrumental music working in Venice in the late 17th century. His father, Giovanni Maria Legrenzi, had been a professional violinist and composer. One of his brothers, Marco, was also a talented musician. The brothers are believed to have been taught music at home and they became used to performing in their local church.  Giovanni Legrenzi became organist at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo and was ordained as a priest in 1651. He became resident chaplain at the church, but continued to be involved in music and was given the title of first organist in 1653. The music he composed for Mass and Vespers was published in 1654.  Legrenzi is believed to have been involved in a gambling scandal and his appointment as organist was not reconfirmed the following year. Read more… 

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Vittorio Sella - mountain photographer

Images still considered among the most beautiful ever made

The photographer Vittorio Sella, who combined mountaineering with taking pictures of some of the world’s most famous and challenging peaks, died on this day in 1943 in his home town of Biella in Piedmont.  Even though Sella took the bulk of his photographs between the late 1870s and the First World War, his images are still regarded as among the most beautiful and dramatic ever taken.  His achievements are all the more remarkable given that his first camera and tripod alone weighed more than 18kg (40lbs) and he exposed his pictures on glass plates weighing almost a kilo (2lbs).  He had to set up makeshift darkrooms on the mountain at first because each shot had to be developed within 10 to 15 minutes.  Sella had exploring and photography in his blood. He was born in 1859 in Biella, in the foothills of the Italian Alps. It was an important area for wool and textiles and his family ran a successful wool factory.   Sella’s father, Giuseppe, was fascinated with the new science of photography A few years before Vittorio’s birth, he published the first major treatise on photography in Italian.  Meanwhile, Sella’s uncle, Quintino Sella, led the first expedition to the top of Monte Viso (or Monviso), the highest mountain in the French-Italian Alps.  Read more… 

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Francesco Crispi – Italian Prime Minister

The ‘great patriot’ was of Albanian heritage

The death at the age of  82 in Naples of the Italian statesman Francesco Crispi, who was a key figure during the Risorgimento, was announced on this day in 1901.  He was a close friend of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and it was Crispi who persuaded Garibaldi to invade Sicily in 1860 with his band of volunteers known as The Thousand. Quickly conquering Sicily, Garibaldi proclaimed himself dictator and named Crispi as Minister of the Interior.  Crispi was born in Ribera in Sicily in 1818. His father’s family were originally from Palazzo Adriano in south western Sicily, which had been founded by Orthodox Christian Albanians. Crispi was brought up to speak Italian, along with Greek, Albanian and Sicilian.  By the time he was 11, Crispi was attending a seminary in Palermo. He then studied law and literature at the University of Palermo, receiving a law degree in 1837.  Crispi founded his own newspaper, L’Oreteo, which brought him into contact with political figures. He wrote about the need to educate poor people, the damage caused by the wealth of the Catholic Church and the need for all citizens, including women, to be considered equal.  Read more…

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Mario Balotelli - footballer

Volatile star of Milan clubs and Manchester City

Controversial footballer Mario Balotelli, who has played for both major Milan clubs in Serie A and for Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League in England, was born on this day in 1990 in Palermo.  Balotelli scored 20 goals in 54 Premier League matches for Manchester City and made the pass from which Sergio Aguero scored City’s dramatic late winning goal against Queen’s Park Rangers on the last day of the 2011-12 season, which gave City the title for the first time since 1968.  He had a difficult relationship with City manager Roberto Mancini, with whom he first worked at Internazionale in Milan, and with Mancini’s successor in charge of the nerazzurri, Jose Mourinho.  His volatile temperament has also brought him more red and yellow cards than he and his managers would have liked.  Yet he still won three Serie A winner’s medals with Inter in addition to his English title and won the Coppa Italia with Inter and the FA Cup with Manchester City.  Balotelli is also a Champions League winner, having been part of the Inter squad in 2009-10, when Diego Milito’s two goals beat Bayern Munich in the final in Madrid.  Read more…

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Luigi Galleani - anarchist

Activist who mainly operated in the United States

Luigi Galleani, an anarchist active in the United States in the early part of the 20th century, was born on this day in 1861 in Vercelli in Piedmont.  Galleani was an advocate of the philosophy of "propaganda of the deed" first proposed by the 19th century Italian revolutionary Carlo Pisacane.  The theory was that violence against specific targets identified as representatives of the capitalist system would be a catalyst for the overthrow of government institutions.  Between 1914 and 1932, Galleani's followers in the United States - known as i Galleanisti - carried out a series of bombings and assassination attempts against institutions and perceived “class enemies.”  The Wall Street bombing of 1920, which resulted in the deaths of 38 people, was blamed on followers of Galleani, who had been deported from the United States to Italy the previous year.  The large following he acquired among Italian-speaking workers both in Italy and the United States stemmed from his brilliant oratory.  He also edited a newspaper, Cronaca Sovversiva - Subversive Chronicle - which he published for 15 years until the United States government closed it down in 1918.  At one point Cronaca Sovversiva had 5,000 subscribers.  Read more…

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Giovanni Gabrieli – composer

Venetian musician inspired spread of the Baroque style

Giovanni Gabrieli, composer and organist, died on this day in 1612 in Venice.  He had been a major influence behind the transition from Renaissance music to the Baroque style in Europe.  Born in Venice between 1554 and 1557, Giovanni grew up studying with his uncle, the composer Andrea Gabrieli, for whom he always had great respect.  He also went to Munich to study with the musicians at the court of Duke Albert V, which had a lasting influence on his composing style.  After his return to Venice he became principal organist at St Mark’s Basilica in 1585.  Following the death of his uncle, he took the post of principal composer at St Mark’s as well and spent a lot of time editing his uncle’s music for publication, which would otherwise have been lost.  He took the additional post of organist at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, which was second only to St Mark’s in prestige at the time.  The English writer Thomas Coryat wrote about musical performances there in his travel memoirs.  Composers from all over Europe came to Venice to study after the publication of Giovanni’s Sacred Symphonies (Sacrae Symphoniae) in 1597.  Read more…

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Book of Day: Baroque Music In Focus: Second Edition, by Hugh Benham

Baroque Music in Focus provides a detailed yet concise look into this fascinating and vitally important period of music history, and explores Baroque music and composers in their wider social and historical context. This second edition has been fully revised and updated to keep abreast of the latest scholarship, and now includes colour images throughout, and a glossary and index. In addition there are new, expanded sections on the major genres and works of the Baroque era, as well as in-depth examinations of the lives and careers of the two greatest Baroque composers, Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Frideric Handel. This focus guide is intended to provide a solid foundation for pupils of all levels who are studying Baroque music, as well as general readers with an interest in the topic. It suggests listening and viewing material to complement the main topics within the book, and is an ideal resource for those wanting to explore the many aspects of Baroque music.

Hugh Benham is a teacher and writer who has contributed to magazines and other publications and, as well as Baroque Music in Focus, is the author of two books on English church music, including John Taverner: his Life and Music.

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Giovanni Legrenzi – composer

Maestro’s Baroque music is still played today by enthusiasts

Giovanni Legrenzi came from a musical
family in Clusone, near Bergamo

Organist and composer Giovanni Legrenzi, who was influential in the development of late Baroque music in Italy, was baptised on this day in 1626 at Clusone, near Bergamo, which was at the time part of the Republic of Venice.

Legrenzi was to become one of the most prominent composers of opera, vocal, and instrumental music working in Venice in the late 17th century.

His father, Giovanni Maria Legrenzi, had been a professional violinist and composer. One of his brothers, Marco, was also a talented musician. The brothers are believed to have been taught music at home and they became used to performing in their local church.

Giovanni Legrenzi became organist at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo and was ordained as a priest in 1651. He became resident chaplain at the church, but continued to be involved in music and was given the title of first organist in 1653. The music he composed for Mass and Vespers was published in 1654.

Legrenzi is believed to have been involved in a gambling scandal and his appointment as organist was not reconfirmed the following year, but the offence was not considered to be serious and he had been reinstated by February 1655.

However, towards the end of that year, Legrenzi had resigned from his position in Bergamo and in 1656 he became maestro di cappella at the Academy of the Holy Spirit in Ferrara.

The Ospedaletto, where Legrenzi
worked during his time in Venice

The Academy was founded by a fraternity of laymen who presented services with music for members of aristocratic circles in Ferrara.

Legrenzi’s position at the Academy gave him time to compose his own music and by the early 1660s he had published eight volumes of his work and had broken into the world of opera.

He ended his association with the Academy and supported himself with the proceeds of his published music and with his income from the land he owned in his native Clusone.

By 1670, he had settled in Venice, where he took up a position as a music teacher at Santa Maria dei Derelitti, more commonly known as the Ospedaletto, where he received commissions to compose oratorios.

He was a finalist for the appointment of maestro di cappella the Basilica of San Marco in 1676, losing by one vote, but later in the year he became maestro di coro at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti.

He became vice maestro at San Marco in 1682 and, by this time, he was one of the leading opera composers of his day. Among his students were Francesco Gasparini and Tomaso Albinoni.

Legrenzi finally became maestro di cappella at San Marco in 1685 but by this time his health was beginning to fail. He died in 1690, probably due to kidney stones, which caused him a lot of pain in his last few months.

His great nephew inherited his music and his books and produced four publications of Legrenzi’s work posthumously. Some of the composer’s unpublished work still survives in manuscript form.

Legrenzi composed 19 operas between 1662 and 1685, which were very popular in their day, but only a few have survived. Early music groups still perform his instrumental music and some of his surviving operas are performed at festivals.

The frescoed exterior of the Torre dell'orologio
is one of the attractions of Clusone

Travel tip:

Clusone, a town in Val Seriana, just outside Bergamo, where Legrenzi was born, has been chosen as one of I borghi piu belli d’Italia - the most beautiful villages in Italy. It was founded around 1300 BC.  Situated about 35km (22 miles) northeast of Bergamo, it nestles on a plain against the backdrop of the Alpi Orobie - the Orobic Alps - which is an area that attracts visitors all year round. Apart from its proximity to ski resorts, Clusone is famous for the frescoes that decorate some of its most significant buildings, such as the Municipio (Town Hall), the Torre dell'orologio (Clock Tower) and the Oratorio dei Disciplini (Oratory of the Disciplines), which has a macabre offering entitled The Triumph of Death. Clusone also hosts a prestigious annual jazz festival.

The Basilica of Santa Maria
Maggiore in Bergamo

Travel tip:

The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Piazza Duomo in Bergamo, where Legrenzi served as organist, dates back to the 12th century. It is one of the most prestigious buildings in Lombardy and has a richly decorated cupola from the 16th century and some fine Flemish and Florentine tapestries and works of art. At the back of the church is an elaborate white marble monument designed by Vincenzo Vela, marking the tomb of opera composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born in Bergamo and returned to die in his native city. Nearby there is a monument to his teacher Simon Mayr, who was once maestro di cappella in the basilica. There is also an elaborately carved wooden confessional designed by Andrea Fantoni in 1704 and an altar rail with wood carvings following designs by the Renaissance artist Lorenzo Lotto.

Also on this day:

1612: The death of composer Giovanni Gabrieli

1861: The death of anarchist Luigi Galleani

1901: The death of politician Francesco Crispi

1943: The death of mountain photographer Vittorio Sella

1990: The birth of footballer Mario Balotelli

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