Day of National Unity in Italy

When Italians celebrate First World War victory as well as their unification

Sergio Mattarella, the Italian President, pictured in 2022
paying his respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider

Italians gather today in the main piazza of towns and cities throughout the country to celebrate il Giorno dell’Unità Nazionale – National Unity and Armed Forces Day.

The fourth day of November has been an Italian National Day since 1919, established to commemorate the country’s victory in World War I. This event was also considered to be the completion of the process of the Unification of Italy,  finally ending Austrian occupation of the northern part of the country, which made it an even more important date in Italian history.

In Rome, the President of Italy and other important officers of the State, pay homage to the Italian unknown soldier, milite ignoto, buried in the Altare della Patria in the centre of the capital. 

Close to this day they also visit the Redipuglia War Memorial in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, where the remains of 100,000 soldiers who died during World War I are buried, and the small town of Vittorio Veneto in the Veneto, which was the site of the last decisive battle between the Royal Italian Army and the Austro-Hungarian Army.

The President and his colleagues send a message of gratitude, on behalf of the whole country, to the Italian Armed Forces on this day, and celebrations also take place in individual comuni, provinces, and regions throughout Italy.

When the change of the guards happens on November 4 at Rome's Palazzo del Quirinale, the presidential palace, the 4th Carabinieri cavalry regiment wear high uniform, which happens on only two other occasions during the year. 

Army and navy barracks throughout Italy are open to the public to visit, there are concerts by military bands, and commemoration ceremonies take place in front of the monument to the fallen in each individual comune.

Quattro Novembre is the only Italian national day that has lasted throughout decades of Italian history, through the years of the Kingdom of Italy, the Fascist period, and the republican era. 

In 1922, after the March on Rome that resulted in the Fascists coming into power in Italy, the name of the day was changed to Anniversario della Vittoria - Victory Day - to emphasise Italy’s military power. 

But in 1949, after the end of World War II, the original name was restored to celebrate the country’s armed forces and national unity.

The Redipuglia War Memorial in Friuli-Venezia Giulia
is another site of commemoration on November 4

In 1946, after the birth of the Republic, the national anthem was changed from the Marcia Reale, brought in before Italian unification by the Savoy family in 1831, to il canto degli italiani. 

This is better known by Italians as L’inno di Mameli, or Fratelli d’Italia, and is recognised by sports fans all over the world because it is played before matches involving the Italian national team. 

Goffredo Mameli, who was a fervent patriot, wrote the text for the anthem in 1847 and it was set to music by the composer Michele Novaro.

This was officially played as the Italian national anthem for the first time on the occasion of the National Unity and Armed Forces day on November 4, 1946.

Il Giorno dell’Unità Nazionale remained a public holiday until 1976, but then the calendar of public holidays was reformed because of austerity in Italy and it became a moveable feast, to be celebrated on the first Sunday of November.

But thanks to former president Carlo Ciampi, who worked to encourage Italians to value their symbols and traditions, the holiday has been celebrated more widely this century, although November 4 is now a national day in the Italian calendar, rather than a public holiday, so that it does not affect the working life of the population.

This year, 2025, for the third consecutive year, Italy marks the annual day by opening state-run museums and archaeological sites free of charge.

The Altare della Patria is part of the Monument
to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy

Travel tip

The foundation stone of the Altare della Patria - originally designed to commemorate King Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy - was laid in 1885 in the presence of his son and successor Umberto I and his family.  The monument, officially opened in 1911 on the 50th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, occupies a site on the northern slope of the Capitoline (Campidoglio) Hill, a few steps from the ruins of the Forum, the heart of ancient Rome. Built in white Botticino marble, the multi-tiered monument is 135m (443 ft) wide, 130m (427 ft) deep, and 70m (230 ft) high, rising to 81m (266ft) including the two statues of a chariot-mounted winged goddess Victoria on the summit of the two propylaea.  The Altare della Patria is actually just one part of the monument, at the front and in the centre, consisting of an inset statue of the goddess Roma and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where two soldiers guard an eternal flame.  Above it is a large bronze horse-back statue of Vittorio Emanuele II himself on a central plinth in front of the broad upper colonnade.  A national symbol of Italy, the monument has an important ceremonial role. On three occasions each year - on Liberation Day (April 25), Republic Day (June 2) and Armed Forces Day (November 4) - the President of the Republic lays a laurel wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honour those who sacrificed their lives in the service of the country. 

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Piazza Flaminio shows off the Renaissance charm
of the Serravalle section of Vittorio Veneto

Travel tip

Vittorio Veneto is a picturesque town in the province of Treviso north of Venice. It was formed in 1866 by the merging of two towns - Serravalle. Ceneda, with Roman and ecclesiastical roots, and Serravalle, known for its medieval architecture and mercantile past. The name honours Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy’s first king, and the region of Veneto. The town became well known for its proximity to the decisive moment of Italy’s World War One campaign, the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in October-November 1918, when Italian forces under the command of General Armando Diaz defeated the Austro-Hungarian army. The victory is commemorated in museums and monuments throughout the town. The districts of Ceneda and Serravalle retain distinct identities, linked by the elegant Viale della Vittoria. Visitors are drawn to its cultural heritage, wine traditions, and proximity to Venice and the Dolomites. The 15th century buildings surrounding Serravalle’s Piazza Flaminio were used by the director Franco Zeffirelli to represent the city of Verona in his adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, a film known for its authentic Italian Renaissance atmosphere.

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More reading:

Armado Diaz, the Neapolitan general who led decisive victory over Austria-Hungary

The history of the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument 

The Festa della Liberazione

Also on this day:

1333: Florence devastated as River Arno floods

1448: The birth of Alfonso II, King of Naples

1575: The birth of Baroque painter Guido Reni

1737: The inauguration of Teatro di San Carlo in Naples

1964: The birth of crime writer Sandrone Dazieri

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3 November

Villa Giusti armistice

Talks held at villa in Padua ended First World War in Italy

An armistice signed between Italy and Austria-Hungary at Villa Giusti near Padua ended World War I on the Italian front on this day in 1918.  After the Allied troops were victorious in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the Austria-Hungary commanding officers asked for a ceasefire and for peace talks. They were invited to Villa Giusti at Mandria just outside Padua, which was owned by Count Giusti del Giardino, a former mayor of Padua and an Italian senator. The principal signatories on the Italian side were Tenente Generale Pietro Badoglio and Maggior Generale Scipione Scipioni. Leading the Austria-Hungary delegation was General Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau. During the war, the Villa Giusti had been the temporary residence of King Victor Emmanuel III when he was away from the front. The armistice signed on 3 November ended the fighting. Read more…

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Vincenzo Bellini - opera composer

Short but successful career of Sicilian musical genius

The talented composer of the celebrated opera, Norma, was born Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini on this day in 1801 in Catania in Sicily. Bellini became known for his long, flowing, melodic lines, which earned him the nickname, ‘The Swan of Catania’. He enjoyed great success during the bel canto era of Italian opera in the early part of the 19th century and many of his operas are still regularly performed today.  Born into a musical family, Bellini showed early talent. It was claimed he could sing an aria at 18 months and could play the piano by the age of five. Although some writers have said these are exaggerations, Bellini is known to have already begun composing music by his teens.  He was given financial support by the city of Catania to study music at a college in Naples and while he was there he was profoundly influenced by meeting the composer Gaetano Donizetti. Read more…

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Monica Vitti - actress

Star of Antonioni classics also excelled in comedy roles

The actress Monica Vitti, who became famous as the star of several films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the early 1960s, was born on this day in 1931 in Rome.  Antonioni, with whom she had a romantic relationship that lasted a decade, cast her as his female lead in L'avventura (1960), La notte (1961), and L'eclisse (1962), three enigmatically moody films once described as a "trilogy on modernity and its discontents".  She also starred for him in his first colour film, Il deserto rosso (1964), which continued in a similar vein.  Her performance earned her a second of four Golden Grail awards. Vitti was also honoured with five David di Donatello awards as Best Actress from the Italian Film Academy.  After splitting with Antonioni, Vitti excelled in comedy, working with directors such as Mario Monicelli, Dino Risi, Alberto Sordi and Ettore Scola.  Read more…

La cambiale di matrimonio - opera

Rossini’s first professional work premieres in Venice

La cambiale di matrimonio - the first opera by Gioachino Rossini to be performed before a paying audience - premiered at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice on this day in 1810.  Although the Pesaro-born composer, who would go on to write 39 operas including Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and La Cenerentola (Cinderella), had tried his hand at the genre earlier, La cambiale di matrimonio was the first to be staged in public. Rossini had written the one-act farce - translated in English as The Bill of Marriage or The Marriage Contract - in the space of just a few days while he was an 18-year-old student. Based on an 18th-century play of the same name by Camillo Federici, La cambiale di matrimonio revolves around the attempts by a London merchant, Tobias Mill, to marry off his daughter, Fanny, to a somewhat mature Canadian businessman by the name of Slook.  Read more…

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Giovanni Leone - controversial politician

First president to resign over a scandal

The politician Giovanni Leone, who served both as prime minister of Italy and president during a career that spanned seven decades but which was ultimately overshadowed by scandal, was born on this day in 1908 in Naples.  A co-founder, with his father, Mauro, of the Christian Democracy in 1943, Leone was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1948, served as prime minister for brief periods in 1963 and 1968 and was elected president in 1971.  He occupied the Palazzo Quirinale, the main Rome residence of the president, for seven years but was forced to resign after being implicated in the Lockheed bribery scandal, the first president to step down over such an impropriety.  The accusation levelled at him was that he accepted payment from the American aircraft manufacturer in connection with the purchase of Hercules military transport planes. Read more…

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Annibale Carracci - painter

Bolognese master produced his most influential work in Rome

The Baroque painter Annibale Carracci was born on this day in 1560 in Bologna.  Annibale and his followers were to become highly influential in the development of Roman painting, bringing back the classical tradition of the High Renaissance.  He was probably apprenticed as a painter with members of his own family in Bologna. But his talents began to develop during a tour of northern Italy in the 1580s. He lodged in Venice with the painter Jacopo Bassano, whose style of painting influenced him for a time.  Annibale has been credited with rediscovering the early 16th century painter Correggio, who had almost been forgotten outside Parma. Annibale’s Baptism of Christ, painted in 1585 for the Church of San Gregorio in Bologna, is a brilliant tribute to him.  In 1582 Annibale opened a studio in Bologna with his brother, Agostino Carracci. Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Italian Empire and the Great War, by Vanda Wilcox

The Italian Empire and the Great War brings an imperial and colonial perspective to the Italian experience of the First World War. Italy's decision to enter the war in 1915 built directly on Italian imperial ambitions from the late 19th century onwards, and its conquest of Libya in 1911–12. The Italian empire was conceived both as a system of overseas colonies under Italian sovereignty, and as an informal global empire of emigrants; both were mobilized to support the war in 1915–18. The war was designed to bring about 'a greater Italy' both literally and metaphorically.  Italy fought a global war, sending troops to the Balkans, Russia, and the Middle East, though with limited results. Italy's newest colony, Libya, was also a theatre of the war effort, as the anti-colonial resistance there linked up with the Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Austria to undermine Italian rule. The book describes how Italian race theories underpinned this expansionism, informing a colonial approach to military occupation in Europe as well as the conduct of its campaigns in Africa. After the war, Italy's failures at the Peace Conference meant that the 'mutilated victory' was an imperial as well as a national sentiment. Events in Paris are analysed alongside the military occupations in the Balkans and Asia Minor as well as efforts to resolve the conflicts in Libya, to assess the rhetoric and reality of Italian imperialism.

Vanda Wilcox is the author of Morale and the Italian Army in the First World War (2016) and editor of Italy in the Era of the Great War (2018). She has taught at John Cabot University and Trinity College, Rome Campus, and most recently at NYU Paris.

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2 November

Battista 'Pinin' Farina - car designer

Family's 'smallest brother' became giant of automobile history

Battista 'Pinin' Farina, arguably the greatest of Italy's long roll call of outstanding automobile designers, was born on this day in 1893 in the village of Cortanze in Piedmont.  His coachbuilding company Carrozzeria Pininfarina became synonymous with Italian sports cars and influenced the design of countless luxury and family cars thanks to the partnerships he forged with Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Nash, Peugeot, Rolls Royce and others - most notably Ferrari, with whom his company has had a continuous relationship since 1951.  Among the many iconic marques that Pinin and his designers created are the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, the Ferrari Dino 206 and the Cisitalia 202.  Battista was the 10th of 11 children raised by his parents in Cortanze, a small community in the province of Asti, situated about 30km (19 miles) east of Turin.  Read more…

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Luchino Visconti – director and writer

The aristocrat of Italian cinema

Luchino Visconti, who most aficionados of Italian cinema would place among the top five directors of all time, was born in Milan on this day in 1906.  Visconti’s movies include Ossessione, Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard, Death in Venice and The Innocent.  One of the pioneers of neorealism – arguably the first to make a movie that could be so defined – Visconti was also known as the aristocrat of Italian cinema, figuratively but also literally.   He was born Count Don Luchino Visconti di Modrone, the seventh child of a family descendant from a branch of the House of Visconti, the family that ruled Milan from the late 13th century until the early Renaissance.  Paradoxically, although he maintained a lavish lifestyle, Visconti’s politics were of the left. During the First World War he joined the Italian Communist Party, and many of his films reflected his political leanings. Read more…

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Arnoldo Mondadori - publisher

Business launched with socialist magazine became biggest in Italy

Arnoldo Mondadori, who founded what would become Italy’s biggest publishing company, was born on this day in 1889 in Poggio Rusco, a small town about 40km (25 miles) southeast of Mantua.  As the business grew, Mondadori published Italian editions of works by Winston Churchill, Thomas Mann and Ernest Hemingway among others, as well as by some of Italy’s own literary giants, including Gabriele D’Annunzio and Eugenio Montale.  Mondadori was the publisher of news magazines such as Epoca, Tempo and Panorama, launched the women’s magazine, Grazia, struck a deal with Walt Disney to publish children’s magazines, and introduced Italy to detective fiction with a series of crime mysteries called Gialli Mondadori, whose yellow (giallo) covers eventually led to gialli becoming a generic term in the Italian language, used not only to identify a detective novel but to describe unsolved mysteries in real life.  Read more…

Gaspare Nadi - builder and diarist

Craftsmen kept chronicle for 50 years

Gaspare Nadi, a builder who became famous for the insight into life in 15th century Italy provided by a diary he maintained for half a century, was born on this day in 1418 in Bologna.  Nadi worked on several important buildings in Bologna, including the bell tower of the Palazzo d’Accursio and several churches. He built the library of the Basilica of San Domenico.  He attained the position of Master Mason in the local guild of bricklayers, whom he also served for many terms as guild manager and other official positions.  Yet it was the diary he began to compile in 1452 that became his legacy. Written in idiomatic Bolognese, it proved to be an extraordinary document, a source for historians seeking to understand how families and society functioned in the Italy of Nadi’s lifetime.  As well as detailing family issues, the diary explained much about the construction industry of the time. Read more…

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Bartolomeo Colleoni - soldier

Death of an ‘honourable’ Italian military leader

Bergamo soldier Bartolomeo Colleoni, who became known for using his wealth to benefit people, died on this day in 1475.  Colleoni spent most of his life in the pay of the republic of Venice defending the city of Bergamo against invaders.  But he is remembered as one of the most decent condottieri of his era, carrying out charitable works and agricultural improvements in Bergamo and the surrounding area when he was not involved in military campaigns.  Condottieri were the leaders of troops, who worked for the powerful ruling factions, often for high payments.   Bergamo’s Bartolomeo Colleoni was unusual because he remained steadfast to one employer, the republic of Venice, for most of his career.  During a period of peace between Venice and Milan he worked briefly for Milan but the rulers never fully trusted him.  Read more…

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San Giusto of Trieste - martyr

Patron saint of maritime city 

San Giusto of Trieste - also known as Saint Justus of Trieste - died on this day in 293 after being found guilty of being a Christian, which was illegal under Roman law at the time.  His death occurred during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, who was notable for his persecution of Christians.  After his trial, he was given the opportunity to renounce his faith and make a sacrifice to the Roman gods.  He refused to do so and was condemned to death by drowning. The story handed down over the centuries was that weights were attached to his ankles before he was thrown from a small boat into the Gulf of Trieste, off the shore of the area known today as Sant'Andrea.  The legend has it that on the night of San Giusto’s death, his friend Sebastian, said to have been a bishop or priest, was told in a dream that the body had broken free of the weights and been washed ashore.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Pininfarina: Masterpieces of Style, by Luciano Greggio

For almost 90 years Pininfarina has been synonymous with Italian coachbuilding. Some of the most iconic cars in the history of not only Italian but also worldwide motoring have been clothed by a firm that has been recognised as the creator of true works of art. Battista Farina, known as "Pinin", was the master craftsman who in 1930 founded in Turin the `'Societa Anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina''. The quality and the beauty of his creations soon established the firm's reputation and well before the outbreak of the Second World War it could boast magnificent bodies on Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fiat chassis. 1947 saw the presentation of a milestone in the history of Italian design, the Cisitalia 202. Between the 1950s and 1990s the company produced iconic designs such as the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider and the "Duetto", the Lancia Aurelia B24 and the Flaminia, the Fiat Dino Spider and the 124 coupe, not to mention the innumerable Ferraris bodied by the prestigious Turin firm that from 1952 had become Maranello's coachbuilder of choice. Numerous 250 GTs, the 250 Le Mans, the 365 Daytona, the 308 GTB, the Testarossa and the 288 GTO are all Pininfarina-bodied Ferraris. Pininfarina: Masterpieces of Style is the full story of this iconic Italian design firm finally told in a single volume.

An expert in international car history, journalist Luciano Greggio is the author of Bertone 90 years 1912-2002 (2002), Abarth The man, the machines (2002) and Zagato Masterpieces of Style (2017).

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1 November

Sistine Chapel ceiling revealed

All Saints’ Day chosen to show off Michelangelo’s work

Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel were unveiled for public viewing for the first time on this day in 1512.  The date of All Saints’ Day was chosen by Pope Julius II, who had commissioned Michelangelo, because he felt it appropriate to show off the frescoes on a significant festival in the Catholic Church year.  The frescoes, the central nine panels of which depict stories from the Book of Genesis, have become one of the most famous works of art in the world, the image of  The Creation of Adam rivalled only perhaps by Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa for iconic status.  Yet Michelangelo was reluctant initially to take on the project, which was first mooted in 1506 by Julius II, who felt that the Sistine Chapel, which had restored by his uncle, Pope Sixtus IV, ought to have a ceiling with more meaningful decoration than the gold stars on a blue background of his uncle’s design.  Read more…

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Annibale Bergonzoli - soldier

Commander who was both decorated and imprisoned by the British

The military commander Annibale Bergonzoli, who served the Italian army in both world wars and led an Italian expeditionary force supporting General Francisco Franco’s nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, was born on this day in 1884 in Cannobio, a town on the shore of Lago Maggiore. Bergonzoli had the distinction of being awarded a medal for bravery by the British during World War One only to be held by them as a prisoner of war after being captured during World War Two. As a boy, Bergonzoli always had a taste for adventure. He completed a 1.5 mile (2.4km) swim across Lago Maggiore at the age of seven. He enrolled at the Military Academy of Modena, graduating with the rank of sub-lieutenant in 1907. He joined the Royal Italian Army in 1911 and was immediately sent to take part in the Italo-Turkish War. Read more…

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Pietro da Cortona – painter and architect

Outstanding exponent of Baroque style

Artist Pietro da Cortona was born Pietro Berrettini on this day in 1596 in Cortona in Tuscany.  Widely known by the name of his birthplace, Cortona became the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and contributed to the emergence of Baroque architecture in Rome.  Having been born into a family of artisans and masons, Cortona went to Florence to train as a painter before moving to Rome, where he was involved in painting frescoes at the Palazzo Mattei by 1622.  His talent was recognised and he was encouraged by prominent people in Rome at the time. He was commissioned to paint a fresco in the church of Santa Bibiana that was being renovated under the direction of Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1624.  Then, in 1633, Pope Urban VIII commissioned Cortona to paint a large fresco on the ceiling of the Grand Salon at Palazzo Barberini. Read more…

Antonio Canova - sculptor

Genius who could bring marble to life 

Sculptor Antonio Canova was born on this day in 1757 in Possagno in the hills near Asolo in the Veneto.  He became famous for creating lifelike figures, possessing the ability to make the marble he worked with resemble nude flesh. One of his masterpieces is the group, The Three Graces, now in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.  Canova’s father and grandfather were both stone cutters and his grandfather taught him to draw at an early age.  The noble Falier family of Venice took an interest in Canova’s talent and brought him to the city to learn his trade in the workshop of Giuseppe Bernardi.  Canova also studied anatomy, history and languages and later moved to work in Rome. His first big success was his funerary monument to Clement XIV, which was inaugurated in the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli.  Read more…

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Giulio Romano – artist and architect

Painter from Rome left his mark on Mantua

Giulio Romano, who was the principal heir to the artist Raphael and one of the most important initiators of the Mannerist style of painting, died on this day in 1546 in Mantua.  He is most remembered for his masterpiece, the Palazzo del Te, built on the outskirts of Mantua as a pleasure palace for the Gonzaga family, which was designed, constructed and decorated entirely by him and his pupils.  The artist had been born in Rome some time in the 1490s and was given the name Giulio di Pietro di Filippo de’ Gianuzzi. He was known originally as Giulio Pippi, but later was referred to as Giulio Romano because of where he was born.  Giulio was apprenticed to Raphael when still a child and worked on the frescos in the Vatican loggias to designs by Raphael. He also collaborated with him on the decoration of the ceiling in the Villa Farnesina.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and his Times, by William E Wallace

In this vividly written biography, William E Wallace offers a new view of the artist. Not only a supremely gifted sculptor, painter, architect and poet, Michelangelo was also an aristocrat who firmly believed in the ancient, noble origins of his family. The belief in his patrician status fuelled his lifelong ambition to improve his family's financial situation and to raise the social standing of artists. Michelangelo's ambitions are evident in his writing, dress and comportment, as well as in his ability to befriend, influence and occasionally say 'no' to popes, kings and princes. Written from the words of Michelangelo and his contemporaries, Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and his Times not only tells his own stories, but also brings to life the culture and society of Renaissance Florence and Rome.

Dr William E Wallace is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis, where he has taught since 1983.  He has written more than 80 essays on Renaissance art and four books on Michelangelo.

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31 October

Eduardo De Filippo - Neapolitan dramatist

Playwright captured essence of city's spirit

One of Italy’s greatest dramatists, Eduardo De Filippo, died on this day in 1984 in Rome at the age of 84.  An actor and film director as well as a playwright, De Filippo – often referred to simply as Eduardo – is most remembered as the author of a number of classic dramas set in his native Naples in the 1940s that continue to be performed today.  Arguably the most famous of these was Filomena Marturano, upon which was based the hit movie Marriage, Italian Style, which starred Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni under the direction of Vittorio de Sica.  De Filippo’s other memorable works included Napoli Milionaria, Le voci di dentro and Sabato, domenica e lunedi.  All of these plays showcased De Filippo’s ability to capture the essence of life in Naples in his time, particularly in the working class neighbourhoods that he felt were the beating heart of the city.  Read more…

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Angelo Rizzoli – publisher

Rags to riches story of an editorial entrepreneur

Printer, publisher and film producer Angelo Rizzoli was born on this day in 1889 in Milan.  Rizzoli was orphaned very young and grew up in poverty, but by the time he was in his 20s he had become an entrepreneur.  He was brought up in the orphanage of Martinitt in Milan, which had been founded in the 16th century in Via Manzoni for orphaned and abandoned Roman Catholic boys. It was there that he learnt the trade of a printer.  Along with another trained print worker, and using his savings for the downpayment on a Linotype machine, he opened a typographical firm under the name of A. Rizzoli & C. in Via Cerva in Milan in 1911. The company was later to evolve into the publishing giant, RCS MediaGroup.  Rizzoli acquired Novella magazine, a bi-weekly aimed mainly at women and went on to add new publications, such as Annabella, Bertoldo, Candido, Omnibus, Oggi and L’Europeo.  Read more… 

Galileo Ferraris - electrical engineer

Pioneer of alternating current (AC) systems

The physicist and electrical engineer Galileo Ferraris, who was one of the pioneers of the alternating current (AC) system for transmitting electricity and invented the first alternators and induction motors, was born on this day in 1847 in Piedmont.  The AC system was a vital element in the development of electricity as a readily-available source of power in that it made it possible to transport electricity economically and efficiently over long distances.  Ferraris did not benefit financially from his invention, which is still the basis of induction motors in use today. Another scientist, the Serbian-born Nikola Tesla, patented the device after moving to the United States to work for the Edison Corporation.  Tesla had been working simultaneously on creating an induction motor but there is evidence that Ferraris probably developed his first.  Read more…

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Bud Spencer – swimmer-turned-actor

Competed at two Olympics before turning to screen career

The actor known as Bud Spencer was born Carlo Pedersoli on this day in 1929 in Naples.  He was best known for the series of so-called spaghetti westerns and comedies he made with another Italian-born actor, Terence Hill.  Hill was from Venice and his real name was Mario Girotti.  They began their partnership in 1967 in a spaghetti western directed by Giuseppe Colizzi called God Forgives…I Don’t! and were asked to change their names so that they would sound more American.  Pedersoli came up with Bud Spencer because his movie idol was Spencer Tracy and his favourite American beer was Budweiser.   The two would go on to make 18 movies together, with westerns such as Ace High (1968) and They Call Me Trinity (1970) winning them box office success. As Carlo Pedersoli, he had already achieved a measure of fame as a swimmer.  Read more… 

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Book of the Day: De Filippo Four Plays: The Local Authority; Grand Magic; Filumena Marturano; Napoli Milionaria by Eduardo De Filippo. Translated by Carlo Ardito.

Eduardo de Filippo was one of Italy's leading popular dramatists, a fearless social critic, a supreme man of the theatre, and a humane and compassionate writer. The works in De Filippo: Four Plays present different facets of his prolific output, which focused on the lives of the Neapolitan people, their dubious cunning nourished by centuries of hunger, their fantasies and their love of life. The Local Authority, Grand Magic and Filumena Marturano are translated by Carlo Ardito, and Napoli Milionaria was translated by Peter Tinniswood for the Royal National Theatre's production in 1991.

Eduardo de Filippo was a Neapolitan actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet. His best known works include Napoli Milionaria, Filumena and Sabato, domenica e lunedì (Saturday, Sunday and Monday). Carlo Ardito is a playwright, adaptor and translator whose work has been performed on stage and BBC radio in Britain, and throughout the English-speaking world.

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30 October

NEW - Giuseppe Ravizza - inventor

His writing machine was forerunner of typewriter

The 19th century inventor Giuseppe Ravizza, whose Cembalo Scrivano machine could be seen as the world’s first typewriter, died on this day in 1885 in Livorno, on the Tuscan coast, about 25km (16 miles) south of Pisa. Ravizza created the first working prototype for his writing machine in 1846 and was granted patent in 1855. Yet, although he hailed from a wealthy Piedmontese family in Novara, he did not have the opportunity in pre-unification Italy to manufacture the device on a commercial scale. As a result, the invention of the typewriter is most commonly credited to Christopher Latham Sholes, an American inventor whose design was not patented until 1868, yet had many of the characteristics of Ravizza’s Cembalo Scrivano.  The American machine was eventually manufactured at scale by E Remington and Sons in 1873.  Read more…

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Charles Atlas - bodybuilder

Poor immigrant from Calabria who transformed his physique

The bodybuilder Charles Atlas was born Angelo Siciliano on this day in 1893 in the Calabrian town of Acri.  Set 720m above sea level straddling two hills in the province of Cosenza, on the edge of what is now the mountainous Sila National Park, Acri was a poor town and while Angelo was growing up his father, Santos, began thinking about joining the growing number of southern Italians who had gone to forge a new life in America. They made the move when Angelo was 11.  The journey by sea from Naples took around two weeks. After registering their arrival at Ellis Island, the immigrant inspection station in New York Bay, the family settled in Brooklyn.  Most accounts of Angelo’s life suggest that his father, a farmer, returned to Italy within a short time but his mother remained, taking work as a seamstress and endeavouring to make a better life for her children. Read more… 

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Antonino Votto – conductor

Outstanding operatic conductor made recordings with Callas

Operatic conductor Antonino Votto was born on this day in 1896 in Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna.  He became famous in the 1950s because he conducted the orchestra for the acclaimed recordings made by soprano Maria Callas for EMI.  Votto was also considered one of the leading operatic conductors of his time on account of his performances at La Scala in Milan, where he worked regularly for nearly 20 years.  After Votto had attended the Naples conservatory for his music studies he went to work at La Scala, where he became an assistant conductor to Arturo Toscanini.  He made his official debut there in 1923, leading a performance of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.  Votto went on to build a reputation as one of the most outstanding conductors of Italian opera, appearing at many other operatic venues in Italy and abroad.  Read more…

Luisa Spagnoli - businesswoman

Inventor of Baci chocolates who diversified into fashion

The businesswoman Luisa Spagnoli, who is credited with creating the Perugina company’s famous Baci chocolates and later developed clothing lines using wool from angora rabbits, was born on this day in 1877 in Perugia.  Spagnoli was one of the four partners who launched the Perugina brand in 1907. She is said to have invented the confection that came to be known as Baci as a way to avoid wasting surplus chocolate and hazelnuts left over from the company’s other lines.  Perugina, now owned by Nestlé, grew to be Italy’s biggest chocolate manufacturer and Baci its best-selling product. The romantic messages inside the wrappers that remain a popular feature of the chocolates to this day are said to have been inspired by the clandestine romance between Spagnoli and the son of one of the other partners.  Read more…

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Poggio Bracciolini – scholar and humanist

Calligrapher who could read Latin changed the course of history

Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, who rediscovered many forgotten Latin manuscripts including the only surviving work by the Roman poet and philosopher, Lucretius, died on this day in 1459 in Florence.  For his services to literature he was commemorated after his death with a statue by Donatello and a portrait by Antonio del Pollaiuolo.  Bracciolini was born in 1380 at Terranuova near Arezzo in Tuscany. In 1862 his home village was renamed Terranuova Bracciolini in his honour.  He studied Latin as a child under a friend of the poet, Petrarch. His linguistic ability and talent for copying manuscripts neatly was soon noted by scholars in Florence.  He later studied notarial law and at 21 was received into the notaries guild in Florence.  After becoming secretary to the Bishop of Bari, Bracciolini was invited to join the Chancery of Apostolic Briefs in the Roman Curia of Pope Boniface IX.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience, by Jerre Mangione and Ben Morreale

From the early Italian adventurers who played an important role in the European expansion across the Atlantic to the political and business leaders of the 1990s, La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience tells a dramatic story. At its heart is the mass migration that took place between 1880 and 1924, when a whole culture left its ancient roots to settle in the cities and towns of America. The New York Times Book Review described the book as: "A saga of a people, their struggles, and the triumphs in a new world, told with drama and passion. It is a book that should be read by all Americans interested in what binds us together, despite our different backgrounds and histories."

Gerlando "Jerre" Mangione, whose parents were both from Agrigento in Sicily, was an American writer and scholar of the "Sicilian-American experience".  Ben Morreale was a distinguished Italian-American novelist and historian.

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Giuseppe Ravizza - inventor

His writing machine was forerunner of typewriter

Ravizza used piano keys in his prototype
design for his Cembalo Scrivano

The 19th century inventor Giuseppe Ravizza, whose Cembalo Scrivano machine could be seen as the world’s first typewriter, died on this day in 1885 in Livorno, on the Tuscan coast, about 25km (16 miles) south of Pisa.

Ravizza created the first working prototype for his writing machine in 1846 and was granted patent in 1855. Yet, although he hailed from a wealthy Piedmontese family in Novara, he did not have the opportunity in pre-unification Italy to manufacture the device on a commercial scale.

As a result, the invention of the typewriter is most commonly credited to Christopher Latham Sholes, an American inventor whose design was not patented until 1868, yet had many of the characteristics of Ravizza’s Cembalo Scrivano.

Produced with the help of Sholes's fellow designers Carlos Glidden and Samuel Souley, the American machine was eventually manufactured at scale by E Remington and Sons in 1873, marking the beginning of the typewriter's widespread use.

Born in Novara in 1811, Ravizza’s education was aimed at him becoming a lawyer and though he graduated he rarely practised. He was much more interested in engineering, specifically in producing a machine that could replicate the art of writing.

He was not the first to have envisaged such a machine. In the early 19th century, an Italian nobleman, Pellegrino Turri, designed a device he hoped would help a blind friend be able to write letters. It did not progress beyond a prototype, although it was Turri who is credited with inventing carbon paper as a means to make an imprint on the page. Another machine is said to have been designed by an American, William Austin Burt, in around 1829.

Ravizza came from a wealthy
background in Novara

Ravizza’s Cembalo Scrivano - literally ‘writing harpsichord’ - was so-called because the typing keys resembled those of a harpsichord. They were, in fact, recycled piano keys. Although it was not a qwerty keyboard, which is definitively thought to be a Sholes invention, the letters were arranged in what Ravizza felt was a logical order, with the aim that the user would be able to employ all 10 fingers in the writing process.

The upstroke mechanism that would be characteristic of the later American-produced version was also present in Ravizza’s machine, which also allowed the user to type both upper and lower case letters, an advancement not seen in the first Remington models.

His keyboard layout was almost certainly inspired by musical instruments, reflecting his belief that writing should be fluid and expressive. His ultimate vision was of a mechanised device that could put words on paper almost at the speed of thought.

Historians have noted the striking similarities between the Sholes typewriter and Ravizza’s design, and while no direct evidence of plagiarism has been uncovered it is possible that American designers will have been aware of Ravizza’s work. 

The Cembalo Scrivano was shown to the public at the Industrial Exhibition in Turin in 1856, where Ravizza sold a small number at 200 lire each, and at a similar exhibition in Novara, where it was awarded a gold medal.  The Cembalo Scrivano was also exhibited in London. 

Ravizza spent almost 40 years refining his typewriter
but it was never produced on a commercial scale

In total, Ravizza spent nearly 40 years refining his machine. Despite producing at least 16 models of his Cembalo Scrivano between 1847 and the early 1880s, his inventions never reached mass production or commercial viability. 

Italy in the mid-19th century lacked the industrial infrastructure to support such innovation, and Ravizza himself was more an inventor than a businessman, with no particular motivation to make financial gains.

Having been born into a moneyed background, in 1886 he married Alessandrina Massini, an Italian philanthropist sometimes described as a forerunner of the feminist movement. Their home became a popular bourgeois salon.

Today, he is remembered as a visionary precursor to the typewriter revolution, if not the inventor. His machines are preserved in museums and private collections, including the Civic Museum of the Broletto in Novara, which has a Cembalo Scrivano donated in 1940 by the Mayor of Ivrea on behalf of the Olivetti Society.

The towering dome of the Basilica of San Gaudenzio
dominates the landscape of Novara in Piedmont

Travel tip:

Novara, where Ravizza was born, is around 65km (40 miles) west of Milan and 100km (62 miles) northeast of Turin. With a population of just over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the Piedmont region, after Turin. Founded by the Romans, it was later ruled by the Visconti and Sforza families. In the 18th century it was ruled by the House of Savoy. In the 1849 Battle of Novara, the Sardinian army was defeated by the Austrian army, who occupied the city. This led to the abdication of Charles Albert of Sardinia and is seen as the beginning of the Italian unification movement.  Among the fine, historic buildings in Novara, which include the Basilica of San Gaudenzio - notable for its towering campanile, topped by Alessandro Antonelli's 75m cupola - and the Broletto, a complex that was at the civic heart of many medieval Italian cities, is the Novara Pyramid, which is also called the Ossuary of Bicocca. It was built to hold the ashes of fallen soldiers after the 19th century Battle of Novara.

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The busy port of Livorno on Italy's west coast
is the second largest city in Tuscany

Travel tip:

The port of Livorno is the second largest city in Tuscany after Florence, with a population of almost 160,000. It is the region’s principal seaport, a dynamic gateway to the Tyrrhenian Sea and a vital hub for both cargo and cruise traffic. The port spans over 2.5 million square meters, with 21 km of docks and around 90 berths. It handles over 35 million tonnes of goods and more than 3.5 million passengers, including 800,000 cruise passengers, each year. Positioned on Italy’s west coast, it is about 90km (56 miles) from Florence. Although it is a large commercial port with much related industry, it has many attractions, including an elegant sea front – the Terrazza Mascagni - an historic centre – the Venetian quarter – with canals, and a tradition of serving excellent seafood.  The Terrazza Mascagni is named after the composer Pietro Mascagni, who was born in Livorno. 

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More reading:

Camillo Olivetti - the founder of Italy’s first typewriter factory

The Italian engineer behind the world’s first personal computer

The priest and physicist who created the first ‘fax machine’

Also on this day:

1459: The death of humanist scholar Poggio Bracciolini

1877: The birth of businesswoman Luisa Spagnoli

1893: The birth of bodybuilder Charles Atlas

1896: The birth of conductor Antonino Votto

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29 October

King appoints Mussolini Prime Minister

Victor Emmanuel turned to Fascist leader after fearing civil war

Victor Emmanuel III, the king of Italy, invited Benito Mussolini to become Prime Minister on this day in 1922, ushering in the era of Fascist rule in Italy.  History has largely perceived the decision as a moment of weakness on the part of the king, a man of small physical stature who had never been particularly comfortable in his role.  Yet at the time, with violent clashes between socialist supporters and Mussolini’s Blackshirts occurring almost daily with both sides bent on revolution, Victor Emmanuel feared that Italy was on the brink of civil war.  The First World War had been financially crippling for Italy, even though they had emerged with a victory of sorts in that the Austro-Hungarians were finally pushed out of northern Italy.  In the poverty that followed, the country shifted to the left and in the 1919 general election the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) gained 32 per cent of the vote. Read more…

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Franco Corelli - 'Prince of Tenors'

Self-taught singer who wowed New York

The great Italian tenor Franco Corelli died in Milan on this day in 2003 aged 82 after suffering heart problems.  Corelli was renowned for the power and vibrancy of his voice, described by some as generating a 'white heat' on the stage when he performed.  In a career spanning more than a quarter of a century he mastered all the major tenor roles and appeared at the greatest opera theatres in the world.  He was a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he performed 19 roles over 15 seasons in some 365 appearances.  As well as possessing outstanding vocal range, he used his natural assets – he stood 6ft 1ins tall and weighed 200lbs – to develop a charismatic stage presence.  Blessed with movie star looks, he had the appearance of an opera-singing Errol Flynn. He was nicknamed the 'Prince of Tenors'.  Corelli was born in 1921 in Ancona on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Read more…

Carlo Emanuele Ruspoli – Duke of Morignano

Noble architect is now a prolific writer

Carlo Emanuele Maria Ruspoli was born on this day in 1949 in Rome.  He became the third Duke of Morignano in 2003, succeeding his father, Prince Galeazzo Ruspoli. Carlo had previously graduated as a Doctor of Architecture from the Sapienza University of Rome and he now works as a researcher and writer.  He is a prolific author of works on history and anthropology as well as historical novels, drawing on his own family heritage and his fascination with the East.  The House of Ruspoli is one of the great aristocratic families of Rome and all members hold the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.  The family’s origins can be traced back to their ancestor, Marius Scotus, in the eighth century, the Ruspoli family of Florence in the 13th century, and the Marescotti family of Bologna.  A branch of the Ruspoli family moved to Rome in the 17th century.  Read more...

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Fabiola Gianotti - particle physicist

First woman to be director-general of CERN

The particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti, who in 2016 became the first woman to be made director-general in the 64-year history of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, was born on this day in 1960 in Rome. She led one of the two teams of physicists working for the organisation - generally known as CERN after its title in French - whose experiments in 2012 resulted in the discovery of the Higgs boson, the particle that explains why some other elementary particles have mass.  The discovery was regarded as so significant in the advancement of scientific knowledge that it was nicknamed the “God particle.”  As the project leader and spokesperson of the ATLAS project at CERN, which involved a collaboration of around 3,000 physicists from 38 countries, Dr. Gianotti announced the discovery of the particle.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Blood and Power: The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism, by John Foot

In the aftermath of the First World War, the seeds of fascism were sown in Italy. While the country reeled in shock, a new movement emerged from the chaos: one that preached hatred for politicians and love for the fatherland; one that promised to build a 'New Roman Empire', and make Italy a great power once again.  Wearing black shirts and wielding guns, knives and truncheons, the supporters of the Italian Fascist Party embraced a climate of violence and rampant masculinity. Led by Benito Mussolini, they would systematically destroy the organisations of the left, murdering and torturing anyone who got in their way.  In Blood and Power, historian John Foot draws on decades of research to chart the turbulent years between 1915 and 1945, and beyond. Drawing widely from accounts of people across the political spectrum - fascists, anti-fascists, communists, anarchists, victims, perpetrators and bystanders - he tells the story of Italian Fascism and its legacy, which still, disturbingly, reverberates to this day.

John Foot is an English academic historian specialising in Italy. He is the author of several books, including histories of Italian football, Italian cycling and the story of the pioneering psychiatrist, Franco Basaglia, who led a revolution in mental health care in Italy. 

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