Corrado Augias - author, journalist and presenter

TV personality has devoted his life to writing

Corrado Augias has enjoyed a long career
as a writer, journalist and TV presenter

Veteran journalist and TV presenter Corrado Augias, who is also a best-selling author, was born on this day in Rome in 1935. He has become popular in Italy as the host of many TV programmes, including those featuring mysteries and crimes from the past, such as Telefono Giallo and Enigma.

Augias is a prolific writer, his works ranging from crime novels set in the early 20th century, to a series of books about the hidden secrets of Italian and European cities, as well as religious works, and plays.

He was brought up in Rome as part of a family originally from Toulon in France, although his father’s family were of Sardinian ancestry. After studying at Sapienza University in Rome he became a journalist working for L’Espresso, La Repubblica and Panorama. He also worked as a foreign correspondent in Paris and New York for several years.

In the 1960s, Augias became involved with the Roman avante garde movement and wrote plays for the theatre. More recently, he wrote a play, L’onesto Jago, for the Teatro Stabile di Genova.

His early crime novels for the Rizzoli publishing house, feature the protagonist Commissario Giovanni Sperelli, an imaginary brother of Andrea Sperelli, who was a character in Piacere, a novel by Gabriele D’Annunzio.

The first novel in a trilogy, Quel treno da Vienna - That Train from Vienna -  published in 1981, was set in Rome in 1911, when the capital was about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Kingdom of Italy.

It was the first of three novels featuring Sperelli, a Commissario of Public Security, and was followed by Il fazzoletto azzuro - The Blue Handkerchief - which was set in Rome in 1915, when Italy was about to enter World War I, and L’ultima primavera - The Last Spring - which begins just before the March on Rome by Mussolini’s Fascists in 1922.

Three films based on these novels were later made for television and shown on Rai, Italy’s national television network.

Augias is well known for his popular series of books, ‘I Segreti di….’, which covers many Italian and European cities, in which he unveils their peculiar features. His 2010 publication of I Segreti del Vaticano focused on issues of power in the Vatican state.

I segreti di Roma has been one
of Augias's most popular books

An atheist, Augias wrote Inchiesta su Gesù, looking at the Gospel’s description of the life of Jesus. This book became a bestseller in Italy.

However, it provoked two other Italian authors to write another book in reply, Risposta a Inchiesta su Gesù, which claimed to offer informed and constructive defence, explanation, and justification for what was written in the Gospel about Jesus.

Augias is married to the journalist and writer Daniela Pasti and he collaborated with her to write Newspapers and Spies, a book about secret societies and corrupt journalists during the Great War.

In 2023, Augias left Rai to go to the commercial channel LA7 to host La Torre di Babele, an in-depth, cultural television programme.

Now in his 90s, he continues to write novels and non-fiction books and his recent autobiographical book, La vita s’impara, about his adventurous life and what he has learnt, was published in 2024.

Between 1994 and 1999 Augias served in the European Parliament as MEP for Southern Italy. He was awarded The Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006.

A year later he was awarded the Knight (Chevalier) of the Legion of Honour by France, but he renounced the honour in 2020 when the same award was given to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The Calling of St Matthew is the first work
in Caravaggio's Cappella Contarelli cycle

Travel tip:

The book for which Corrado Augias is perhaps best known, I segreti di Roma (The Secrets of Rome), includes discourse about the great Renaissance painter, Caravaggio, who spent much of his working life in Rome and left a legacy of outstanding work, some of which is on public view in churches around the city. These include the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, a short distance from Piazza Navona, where the Cappella Contarelli includes a cycle of Caravaggio paintings on the theme of Saint Matthew - The Calling of Saint Matthew, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, and The Inspiration of Saint Matthew. Augias believes the content of each, with many of the figures portrayed inspired by the ordinary Romans the painter would encounter in his daily life, perfectly illustrates the contradictions found in Rome, where piety co-exists with vice, poverty with power, light with shadow.  The paintings, completed between 1599 and 1602, were Caravaggio's first major public commission and one that cemented his reputation as a master artist. The church of San Luigi dei Francesi, which was designed by Giacomo della Porta and built by Domenico Fontana between 1518 and 1589, is dedicated to the patron saints of France: Virgin Mary, Denis of Paris, and King Louis IX of France. The chapel commemorates the French cardinal, Matthieu Cointerel.

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The present day campus of Sapienza University,
designed in the 1930s by Marcello Piacentini

Travel tip:

The University of Rome, where Corrado Augias studied, is often referred to as the Sapienza University of Rome or simply La Sapienza, meaning 'knowledge'. It was founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, as a place for  ecclesiastical studies over which he could exert greater control than the already established universities of Bologna and Padua. The first pontifical university, it expanded in the 15th century to include schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology. Money raised from a new tax on wine enabled the University to buy a palace, which later housed the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza church. The University was closed during the sack of Rome in 1527 but reopened by Pope Paul III in 1534. In 1870, La Sapienza ceased to be the papal university and as the university of the capital of Italy became recognised as the country's most prestigious seat of learning. A new modern campus was built in 1935 under the guidance of the architect Marcello Piacentini.

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More reading:

Gabriele D’Annunzio and his place in Italian history

The left-leaning aristocrat who founded L’Espresso and La Repubblica

The rags-to-riches story of publisher Angelo Rizzoli

Also on this day:

1482: The first printed edition of the Hebrew Bible

1582: The birth of painter Giovanni Lanfranco

1919: The birth of footballer Valentino Mazzola

1976: The death of Franciscan friar Gabriele Allegra

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25 January

Antonio Scotti - baritone

Neapolitan singer who played 35 seasons at the Met

The operatic baritone Antonio Scotti, who performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York for a remarkable 35 consecutive seasons, was born on this day in 1866 in Naples.  Scotti's career coincided with those of many fine baritones and experts did not consider his voice to be among the richest. Yet what he lacked in timbre, he compensated for in musicality, acting ability and an instinctive grasp of dramatic timing.  Later in his career, he excelled in roles that emerged from the verismo movement in opera in the late 19th century, of which the composer Giacomo Puccini was a leading proponent, drawing on themes from real life and creating characters more identifiable with real people.  For a while, Scotti's portrayal of the chief of police Baron Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, for example, was the yardstick against which all performances were measured, at least until Tito Gobbi's emergence in the 1930s. Read more…

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Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza - explorer

Italian whose name is commemorated in an African capital

The explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, from whom Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo took its name, was born on this day in 1852 in Castel Gandolfo, a town 25km (16 miles) southeast of Rome.  His birth name was Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà but he became a French citizen in 1874 after obtaining sponsorship from the French government to help fund his African expeditions, and adopted a French version of his name.  Although it was because of de Brazza that much of Congo became a French colony, the transference of sovereignty took place without bloodshed and de Brazza was well liked for his friendly nature and commitment to peace. Its capital, founded in 1880, was named Brazzaville in his honour and the name was retained even after the Republic of Congo became fully independent in 1960.  Read more…

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Noemi - singer-songwriter

Debut album topped Italian charts

The singer-songwriter Noemi - real name Veronica Scopelliti - was born in Rome on this day in 1982.  Noemi’s first album, Sulla mia pelle, released in 2009, sold more than 140,000 copies, topping the Italian album charts.  It followed her appearance in the second series of the Italian version of The X-Factor, the television talent show. Although she did not win the competition, Noemi proved to be the most popular singer, finishing fifth overall.  Soon afterwards, she released a single, Briciole, which reached number two in the Italian singles chart.  Heavily influenced by soul music, Noemi established immediately the style that has seen her nicknamed the ‘lioness of Italian pop’.  The elder of two daughters of Armando and Stefania Scopelliti, Noemi - Veronica as she was then - had early experience of appearing in the spotlight - at 19 months she was chosen to model nappies in a TV commercial for Pampers.  Read more…

Giangiacomo Ciaccio Montalto - magistrate

Brave investigator murdered by the Sicilian Mafia

The fearless magistrate Giangiacomo Ciaccio Montalto was assassinated by Mafia gunmen in Valderice, a small town near the Sicilian city of Trapani, on this day in 1983.  Ciaccio Montalto, a state prosecutor who had been involved in every major organised crime investigation in western Sicily over the previous 12 years, was a short distance from his home in the early hours of the morning when his Volkswagen Golf was forced off the road.  Three men armed with machine guns and pistols opened fire, hitting Ciaccio Montalto multiple times, leaving his bullet-ridden body slumped in the driver’s seat. Used to hearing gunshots, none of the nearby residents ventured out to see what had happened and it was not until 7.15am that a passing carabinieri patrol came across the car and discovered the magistrate’s body. He was 41 years old.  Read more…

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Friuli earthquake

First of two disasters to rock Italy in the same year

A devastating earthquake hit the area now known as Friuli-Venezia Giulia on this day in 1348.  With a seismic intensity believed to be the equivalent of 6.9 on the Richter scale, the effects of the quake were felt right across Europe.  According to contemporary sources, houses and churches collapsed and there were numerous casualties. It was recorded that even as far away as Rome, buildings had been damaged.  The epicentre is believed to have been north of Udine. The earthquake happened on 25 January early in the afternoon and its effects were immediately felt in Udine, where the castle and cathedral were both damaged.  In Austria the town of Villach was later hit by a landslide caused by the earthquake. Buildings in Carniola, part of present day Slovenia, and in Vicenza, Verona and Venice were also damaged.  Read more…

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Paolo Mascagni – physician

Scientist was first to map the human lymphatic system

The physician Paolo Mascagni, whose scientific research enabled him to create the first map of the complete human lymphatic system, was born on this day in 1755 in Pomarance, a small town in Tuscany. Mascagni described his findings in a book with detailed illustrations of every part of the lymphatic system he had identified, which was to prove invaluable to physicians wanting to learn more about a part of the human body vital to the regulation of good health. He also commissioned the sculptor Clemente Susini to create a full-scale model in wax of the lymphatic system, which can still be seen at the Museum of Human Anatomy at the University of Bologna.  His book, Anatomia Universa, which comprises 44 enormous copperplate illustrations, sets out to bring together the full extent of human knowledge about the anatomy of the human body.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Italians, by John Hooper

Sublime and maddening, fascinating yet baffling, Italy is a country of endless paradox and seemingly unanswerable riddles.  John Hooper's marvellously entertaining and perceptive book is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Looking at the facts that lie behind - and often belie - the stereotypes, his revealing analysis of The Italians sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism and the reason why Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger, yet none for a hangover. The Daily Telegraph said 'Hooper has written a fascinating, affectionate and well-researched study that delivers the tantalising flavour of a country as hot, cold, bitter and sweet as an affogato' while the Financial Times reckoned 'This portrait of a nation is required reading for anyone heading to a Tuscan villa or Puglian beach this summer'. 

John Hooper is the Italy and Vatican correspondent for The Economist and author of two bestselling books about Spain as well as The Italians. He has reported from Italy for more than 30 years and has been a lecturer at Stanford University’s campus in Florence.

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24 January

Giorgio Chinaglia - footballer

Centre-forward from Carrara became a star on two continents

The footballer Giorgio Chinaglia, who would start his career in Wales before enjoying stardom in his native Italy and then the United States, was born on this day in 1947 in Carrara in Tuscany.  A powerful centre forward and a prolific goalscorer, Chinaglia scored more than 100 goals for Lazio. His 193 for New York Cosmos made him the all-time leading goalscorer in the North American Soccer League.  Chinaglia left Italy at the age of nine after his father, Mario, decided that his family would enjoy a more prosperous future abroad given the state of Italy's economy in the immediate wake of the Second World War.  Jobs at a Cardiff steelworks were advertised in the employment office in Carrara and Mario successfully applied.  He would eventually leave the steelworks to train as a chef, building on his experience as a cook in the army, and ultimately opened his own restaurant.  Read more…

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Galeazzo Maria Sforza - Duke of Milan

Effective leader with dark side

Galeazzo Maria Sforza, who became the second member of the Sforza family to take the title Duke of Milan, was born on this day in 1444 in Fermo, in what is now the Marche region.  Sforza was an effective ruler but is often remembered as a tyrant with a cruel streak.  He ruled Milan for just 10 years before he was assassinated in 1476.  In that time, Galeazzo did much to boost the economy of Milan and the wider area of Lombardia. He introduced measures to promote and protect the work of Lombard craftsmen and boosted agriculture by the introduction of jasmine farming and rice cultivation. Farsightedly, he realised that a healthy population was a more productive one and expanded the health institutions started by his father, Francesco Sforza.  He minted a new silver coin, the Testone, which carried an image of his profile on the reverse.  Read more…

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Assassination of Caligula

Controversial emperor killed by Praetorian Guard

Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, the Roman emperor usually referred to by his childhood nickname, Caligula, was assassinated at the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill in Rome on this day in 41AD.  His killers were officers of the Praetorian Guard who confronted him in an underground corridor at the imperial palace, where he had been hosting the Palatine Games, an entertainment event comprising sport and dramatic plays.  According to one account, Caligula was stabbed 30 times in a deliberate act of symbolism, that being the number of knife wounds some believe were inflicted on Julius Caesar, his great-great-grandfather after whom he was named, when he was murdered in 44BC. Most accounts agree that the chief plotter in Caligula’s murder, and the first to draw blood, was Cassius Chaerea, an officer Caligula was said to have frequently taunted. Read more…

Farinelli – music’s first superstar

Castrato rated among all-time opera greats

The opera singer Carlo Broschi – better known by his stage name of Farinelli – was born on this day in 1705 in the city of Andria in what is now Apulia.  Farinelli was a castrato, a type of classical male singing voice that was enormously popular from the 16th to the 18th century, one which had an enormous range and flexibility, a little like a female soprano but subtly different.  It was achieved through the somewhat barbaric practice of castrating a male singer before puberty, which is why there are no castrati today. Among other things, the procedure caused changes in the development of the larynx, meaning the voice effectively never breaks, and of the bones, including the ribs, which grew longer than in non-castrated boys and gave the castrato singer considerably enhanced lung power and capacity.  Read more…

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Arnoldo Foà – actor

Talented performer, director and writer worked into his 90s

Theatre and film actor Arnoldo Foà was born on this day in 1916 in Ferrara.  He began acting in the 1930s and was still appearing on stage after the year 2000 when he was over 90. He had parts in more than 100 films between 1938 and 2007.  Foà was born into a Jewish family living in Ferrara but moved with his family to live in Florence when he was three years old, eventually attending an acting school there.  He abandoned his economics and commerce studies in Florence at the age of 20 to move to Rome and attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.  Foà began appearing on stage in the 1930s but his situation became difficult during the war. In order to earn money he had to stand in for actors when they were ill using a false name.  He eventually moved to Naples and when the Allies arrived worked for their radio station as an announcer. Read more…

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Davide Valsecchi - racing driver and TV presenter

Double GP2 champion’s track career ended in frustration

Davide Valsecchi, now a TV commentator but in his racing days rated as one of the best drivers never to be given a chance in Formula One, was born on this day in 1987 in Eupilio, a small town in the lake district of northern Italy.  Valsecchi was twice a champion in GP2, the category just below F1, but despite stints as a test driver and reserve driver for Lotus on the main Grand Prix circuit was never given a chance to compete at the top level.  Frustrated because he thought he deserved an opportunity, Valsecchi quit the sport but soon forged a career in television coverage of F1, first as an analyst and then as a commentator, becoming a popular figure with viewers for his excitable style.  He also co-presents the Italian version of the hit British car show, Top Gear.  Valsecchi made his debut in the Formula Renault and Formula 3 classes as young as 16. Read more…

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Book of the Day: Arrivederci Swansea, by Mario Risoli

As an unknown apprentice with Third Division club Swansea Town in the 1960s, Chinaglia stole milk bottles from doorsteps because he couldn't afford breakfast. Nine years later he was on an annual salary of £85,000. Chinaglia, who had lived in South Wales since he was eight, returned to his native Italy to rebuild his ailing career and, after spells with two Third Division clubs, he joined Roman side Lazio in 1969. There, in the Olympic Stadium, Chinaglia became the idol of the Lazio tifosi. In 1974 he finished Serie A top scorer with 24 goals and helped Lazio to their first - and so far, only - league title, pipping the traditional giants Juventus, Milan and Inter. Arrivederci Swansea tells his remarkable rags-to-riches story.

Mario Risoli is a journalist and writer. His first book, When Pele Broke Our Hearts, made the Sunday Times top-ten bestseller list and Arrivederci Swansea: The Giorgia Chinaglia Story, also received critical acclaim. He lives and works in Wales.

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23 January

NEW - Pina Carmirelli - violinist

Virtuoso trusted with 17th century masterpiece

Pina Carmirelli, who became one of Italy’s most gifted violinists of the 20th century, was born on this day in 1914 in Varzi, a town in the province of Pavia in Lombardy about 90km (45 miles) south of Milan.  Carmirelli enjoyed a brilliant career as a soloist and as a member of various chamber groups, the most notable of which was the Boccherini Quintet, which she co-founded with her husband, the cellist Arturo Bonucci, in order to revive interest in the music of the 18th century cellist, Luigi Boccherini.  She was held in such high regard that the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where she taught for many years, allowed her use of one of the prized possessions of their Museum, the 1690 Tuscan, Medici violin that was one of a set of five instruments the great Antonio Stradivari built for Ferdinando de’ Medici, the Grand Prince of Tuscany.  Read more…

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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. Read more…

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Salvatore Lima - politician

Christian Democrat MEP murdered by Mafia

Salvatore Lima, a politician strongly suspected of being the Sicilian Mafia’s ‘man in Rome’ before 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 been suspected of corruption as Mayor of Palermo in the 1950s and 60s and in 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 garnered 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 as an act of revenge following his failure to have sentences against 342 mafiosi accused in the so-called 'maxi-trial' of 1986-87 annulled or at least reduced.  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. Read more…

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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. Read more…

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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. 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 chance to paint her.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Stradivari, His Life And Work (1644-1737), by W Henry Hill, Arthur F Hill and Alfred E Hill

The Hill family’s Antonio Stradivari: His Life and Work (1644–1737) has been a cornerstone of reference for students of the great Italian luthiers since its publication in 1902, yet is also a genuinely absorbing read. W E Hill and Sons of London for much of the 20th century were the world’s foremost dealers in violins and other musical instruments and handled and authenticated more Stradivari instruments than anyone in history.  The 1690 Tuscan, Medici which Pina Carmirelli played for 15 years passed through their hands on several occasions. Written by three of  founder William Ebsworth Hill's four sons, the book reconstructs Stradivari’s biography despite sparse archival records, discussing his apprenticeship (likely with the Amati family), his marriage, children, and workshop, and makes a careful attempt to place him within the social and economic life of 17th-18th‑century Cremona. It also provides a detailed analysis of the development of his style as a luthier, dividing his career into four distinct periods, with much technical detail of how his instruments were constructed. There is also a descriptive catalogue of known Stradivari instruments and fascinating sections on his workshop and the materials he used, with a whole chapter devoted to the Cremonese varnish alone. 

W E Hill and Sons was founded in 1880 by the violin and bow maker William Ebsworth Hill, establishing a reputation for the quality of the instruments they produced and as an authority on fine instruments generally, which was continued by his sons, William Henry, Arthur, Alfred and Walter. Based originally in Wardour Street, the firm occupied premises in New Bond Street for 80 years before moving to a country house location in Buckinghamshire, returning to London in 2018 to their present headquarters and workshop in Hampstead. 

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