Italian Sketches

Some of Italy’s most remarkable citizens have made their names in Florence, whether they be Florentine, Tuscan or from further afield, across the peninsula and its islands. Their personal histories are recorded in the wide-ranging articles here, which document the lives of scientists, artists, politicians and more, who chose to enrich Florence with their work, and root their legacies here.

 

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Curzio Malaparte

Writer and journalist

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Giuseppe Garibaldi’s divorce

At the age of 52, Giuseppe Garibaldi would make a hasty romantic decision that he would regret for the next 20 years.

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Ada Boni

Cookbook author, editor and educator

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Ottavio Bottecchia

The northern Italian cyclist won the Tour de France in 1924 and 1925.

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Giovanni da Verrazzano

In search of the northwest passage

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The Buonomini of San Martino

The task of these 12 men was to collect funds, seek out the needy and distribute the alms.

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Bianca Cappello and her “camerino”

Francesco de' Medici's wife once had her own private chamber in the Palazzo Vecchio.

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The Iron Crown of Lombardy

On May 26, 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself as the King of Italy in Milan Cathedral, crowning himself with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.

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Renato Balestra

A brief history on the iconic Italian fashion designer Renato Balestra and his impact on the world of fashion.

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Carlo Adolfo Schlatter

Home-atelier museum Casa Schlatter houses a collection of over 350 Schlatter works and artefacts that are available for public viewing.

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Giuseppe Fiorelli

Summer 2022 brought exciting discoveries in Pompeii, the largest working archaeological site in the world, attracting millions of tourists every year. About 24 kilometers south of Naples, this Ancient Roman ...

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Margherita Hack

The centenary of the birth of Margherita Hack, one of Italy’s most illustrious astrophysicists and the first woman to become the director of an astronomy observatory (Trieste, 1964–87), was celebrated ...

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Amalia Moretti Foggia della Rovere

Amalia Moretti Foggia della Rovere, aka “Petronilla”, was one of the first woman doctors in Italy as well as a leading journalist.

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Angelo de Gubernatis

Florence hides many unexpected jewels, but they take time for the visitor to find, visit and savour. One of these is the Indian Museum, an anthropology and ethnology section of ...

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Sylvano Bussotti

For five days between September 20 and 25, as part of Estate Fiorentina, several major Florentine cultural organisations will celebrate the 90th birthday of Sylvano Bussotti, one of the city’s ...

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Francesco Carletti

The son of Antonio Carletti and his wife Lucrezia Macinghi, Francesco Carletti was born in Florence in either 1573 or 1574. His father was a descendant of an old merchant ...

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Elvira Gemignani Puccini

On November 29, 1924, aged 65, the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini died of a heart attack as a result of radiation treatment he was undergoing for throat cancer at the ...

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Rose Montmasson

When in via della Scala, take a moment to pause outside number 50 and look at the plaque on the wall. It translates into English: In this palace which was ...

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Barsene “Baldissera” Conti

On May 15, 1896, a small, slender woman with a baby in her arms lay down across the tram track in Brozzi, a town on the outskirts of Florence. Her ...

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Gioachino Rossini

In 1829, at the peak of his superstar fame as the composer of more than 40 operas including L’Italiana in Algeri, La Cenerentola, La gazza ladra, La donna del lago, ...

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Suso Cecchi d’Amico

Protests about the gender equality gap in the film industry continued to rumble on as the lights of the 76th annual Venice International Film Festival went out at the end ...

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The Fontana sisters

The Fontana sisters, Zoe, Micol and Giovanna, were pivotal in establishing the “Made in Italy” fashion brand internationally.

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L’Italienne: Catherine de’ Medici

On January 5, 1589, when Catherine, the great Medici-born queen and regent of France, died of pleurisy at 69 years of age in Blois, just eight months before her son, ...

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