Interviews

All manner of interesting personalities call Florence home. From aristocrats to influencers, each interview highlights a different subsection of Florentine society and celebrates the diversity among the city’s most notable individuals. Take a closer look into the lives and backgrounds of both locals and internationals, that are making a difference in Florence.

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An interview with Linda Loppa

White and minimalist, the office of the director of Polimoda Linda Loppa belies the international fashion institute’s focus and creativity.

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Erol Agi

Making my way through piazza Sant’Ambrogio to meet Dr. Erol Agi at Studio Dottori Bindi, a gleaming dental practice just steps from the square, I realized that I was approaching rather timidly. I reminded myself that I was meeting him for an interview, not a dental exam. As

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Coffee with Louise Holm Ferragamo

On a crisp day, The Florentine had the pleasure of chatting with Louise Holm Ferragamo in the discreet ambience of Caffè dell’Oro along lungarno degli Acciaiuoli. As the winter rays streamed in through the windows, Louise explained what brought her to Florence, her fervent support of Meyer

FOOD + WINE

Interview with Antonello Sardi, La Bottega del Buon Caffè

While you can certainly have your fill of exquisite bistecca fiorentina, crostini neri and ribollita in Florence, a new wave of creative culinary excellence is putting the city firmly on the map. Among those who are burnishing the city’s reputation for fine food is Antonello Sardi, the latest

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A chat with Audrey Hepburn’s granddaughter

Emma Ferrer and I met on an unseasonably cold night this fall at a charming wine bar near piazza San Marco. Since her recent modelling stint for fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, Ferrer has been exposed to the unfamiliar limelight of international media attention, a slice of the fame

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A chat with Abigail Rupp

Photos by Marco Badiani Before the holiday season got underway, The Florentine paid a visit to the recently renovated Palazzo Canevaro to chat with U.S. Consul General Abigail Rupp about life in Florence, the work of the U.S. Consulate and the weirdest thing she has seen in the

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Sharon Oddson

When Sharon Oddson and I met for a chat on a cloudy fall morning, shortly after unlocking La Cucina del Garga, her family-owned restaurant not far from the heart of San Lorenzo, she offered me a cappuccino. But even after four decades in Florence, she handed it to me

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Nardia Plumridge

Sitting on a sun-drenched wooden bench in Ditta Artigianale, Florence’s hip new coffee shop, I waited for Nardia Plumridge, the face behind the successful ‘Lost in Florence’ website. She was dashing up the road on her bike to meet me for a chat and a

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Gabrielle Taylor

Beautiful marble statues take centre stage in the impressive, book-lined lounge in Florence’s Palazzo Tornabuoni Private Residence Club, where I sat down with Club Attaché Gabrielle Maria Taylor to find more about her life and work in Florence.   With a degree in art history and

FOOD + WINE

Valeria Piccini

A sought-after destination for the likes of Queen Victoria, the St. Regis Florence is now more than just a luxurious place to stay. The Art Deco-style winter garden at one of Florence’s leading hotels has opened its doors to Valeria Piccini, one of Tuscany’s

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Daisy Diaz

Year after year, Florence lures countless creative types who decide to make it home. A little over a decade ago, designer-turned-boutique owner Daisy Diaz became one of them. After a varied professional path in public relations and interior design, Diaz decided to open her own shop in Florence,

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Lee Foust

With his first book, Sojourner, now on the market, Lee Foust feels he is one step closer to having the career he always wanted. After a long spell of European travel and returns to the States, the American-born writer and performer has now settled in Florence, where he teaches

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Nehemiah H. Brown

Christmas is the busiest time of year for choirs, and none more so than the Florence Gospel Choir, the first of its kind in Italy. It was co-founded more than 15 years ago by American musician Nehemiah H. Brown and Eusebio De Cristofaro. I went to meet Nehemiah Brown,

FOOD + WINE

Vito Mollica

Walking into the sumptuous surroundings of Palazzo della Gherardesca is always a soothing and pleasurable experience, but it is all the more so when one is about to meet the Four Seasons Florence’s Michelin-starred chef, Vito Mollica. Modest in his success and amiable with all, Basilicata-born

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William Kelley

A few streets over from Michelangelo’s former home, William Kelley and his wife, Susan, have settled in a beautiful flat with panoramic views of Florence. Since 2004, the American-born artist has made Florence a permanent base, first renting a studio on the Ponte Vecchio. When the space

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Birgitte Brondsted

Birgitte Brøndsted fell in love with Italy when she visited for the first time at age 14. Later, she tried living in Paris and Madrid as well as her home city of Copenhagen, but Italy kept pulling her back for periods of both work and study. Eventually, it

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Patrik Lundell

Although you may not have heard of him, you might already have come across his art. Every Friday, Patrik Lundell distributes his artworks for free in Florence’s historic centre, leaving his pieces, which are made from cardboard left out for recycling, on streets and buildings for passersby to

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Sara Amrhein, American jewelry designer and expat in Florence

  Take a stroll along via de’ Mezzo, in the Sant’Ambrogio neighbourhood of Florence, and you’ll come across a glass-fronted studio. Welcome to Sara Amrhein’s creative space and boutique, lovingly ...

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Emily Taranto-Kent

You know you’re about to meet somebody with creativity coursing through their veins when you encounter a dressmaker’s dummy perched on a pole and sporting a unique logo in a Florentine window space. Boston-born Emily Taranto-Kent has called Florence her home for the last

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Victor Caulfield

Nineteenth-century poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are among the most renowned expatriates to have lived in Florence and their home, Casa Guidi, stands across from the Palazzo Pitti. Today, one of its most luxurious flats is occupied by Victor John Barrett Caulfield, a distant relative of Elizabeth,

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Susanna Myers

A progressive Jew who moved from the United States to Florence to be with her husband, Susanna Myers found nowhere to practice her faith upon her arrival. Along with three other American expats, she founded Shir Hadash, a nonprofit congregation of Progressive Judaism, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.  

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Swietlan Kraczyna

A Russian who was born in Poland and grew up in Germany and the United States, Swietlan Kraczyna was inspired to move to Florence by Masaccio’s murals. From humble beginnings, supporting a family on just 100 dollars a month in the Santo Spirito area, he has become an

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Kristina Grancaric

Going to meet Kristina Grancaric in her office is an unusual experience: most days she sets up ‘office’ in a different restaurant or bar, where people drop in to see her and she reviews the place as part of her work with the website Yelp. Today she has

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The Scorpioni

‘Why shouldn’t Mussolini have an empire? All the best people in Europe have empires.’ So affirms the imperious British expat Lady Hester Random (played by Maggie Smith) in Franco Zeffirelli’s ...

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