Gaia Servadio

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Gaia Servadio
Gaia Servadio hosting "After Dark" on 11 March 1988.jpg
Hosting After Dark in 1988
Born
Gaia Cecilia Metella Servadio

13 September 1938
Padua, Italy
Died20 August 2021(2021-08-20) (aged 82)
Rome, Italy
OccupationWriter
Spouse(s)William Mostyn-Owen (c.1961-1989)
Children3
RelativesBoris Johnson (former son-in-law)

Gaia Cecilia Metella Servadio[1] (13 September 1938 – 20 August 2021) was an Italian writer.[2]

Early life and career[]

Servadio was born in Padua, the daughter of industrial chemist[3] Luxardo Servadio and wife Bianca Prinzi.[4] Her father was Jewish and her mother was Sicilian and Catholic.[5] She received a bachelor's degree from London's Camberwell School of Art.[4]

Her first novel Tanto gentile e tanto onesta, aka Melinda, was published in 1967 by Feltrinelli in Italy and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, and was a "a runaway success".[4]

Personal life[]

Servadio was married to the British art historian William Mostyn-Owen c. 1961–1989, and they had three children, Owen (b. 1962), Allegra (b. 1964) and Orlando (b. 1973).[6] In 1968, they were living in "23 rooms or so" of one wing of Aberuchill Castle, Perthshire, Scotland.[7]

Their daughter Allegra, an art teacher, was the first wife of the politician Boris Johnson.[8] Their son Orlando is an artist and a painter.[9]

Servadio lived in Belgravia, London.[10] She died on 20 August 2021.[11][12]

Works[]

Fiction[]

  • Tanto gentile e tanto onesta (Feltrinelli, 1967)
  • Don Giovanni e L'azione consiste (Feltrinelli, 1968)
  • Il Metodo. Milano. Feltrinelli. 1970.
  • Un'infanzia diversa (Rizzoli, 1988)
  • Il lamento di Arianna (La Tartaruga, 1988)
  • La storia di R. (Rizzoli, 1990)
  • Abramo, La vallata. 1990.
  • E i morti non sanno (Dario Flaccovio Ed., 2005)
  • Raccogliamo le vele - Autobiografia (Feltrinelli, 2014)
  • Didone Regina. Milano. Frassinelli. 2017. ISBN 97-88-89342-023-5.
  • Giudei, Milano, Bompiani, 2021.

Music[]

  • La vera Traviata. Libretto, in Angelo Inglese, cantata scenica in un prologo, 7 scene ed epilogo, 2013.
  • The Last Zodiac, Poems, in Marcello Panni, 12 Lieder for voice and orchestra, 2015.

Non-fiction[]

  • Angelo La Barbera. A profile of a Mafia Boss, London, Quartet Books, 1974.
  • Mafioso, London, Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, 1976.
  • To a Different World, London, Hamish Hamilton 1979.
  • Luchino Visconti, Mondadori, 1980.
  • La Donna del Rinascimento, Garzanti, 1986.
  • Traviata. Vita di Giuseppina Strepponi, Rizzoli, 1994.
  • Incontri. Forster, Sraffa, Lowell, Matta, McCarthy. Abramo. 1993. ISBN 978-88-8324-056-0.
  • Mozia. Alla scoperta di una civiltà scomparsa, Flaccovio Dario, 2003.
  • Rossini. Una vita. Flaccovio. 2004. ISBN 978-88-7758-554-7.
  • Sammezzano, London, Idea Books, 2007.
  • Il Rinascimento allo specchio, Milano, Salani, 2007.
  • Gods, Sailors and Merchants. The Whitakers and Marsala wine, Torino, Allemandi&C, 2009
  • Incoronata pazza. Il mistero di Giovanna, figlia di re, madre di re, regina sacrificata, Milano, Salani, 2010.
  • C'è del marcio in Inghilterra, Milano, Salani, 2011.
  • Poetry. Tuscany and Umbria, a collection of Poetry of Place, London, Eland, 2011.
  • Gioachino Rossini Una vita, Feltrinelli 2015.
  • I viaggi di Dio, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2016.
  • L'italiano più famoso del mondo: vita e avventure di Giovanni Belzoni, Milano, Bompiani, 2018.
  • A Wartime Childhood, London, John Sandoe, 2020.

Curatorial[]

  • Ancient Syrian writings: Syrian preclassical and classical texts, Damascus, General Secretariat of Damascus, 2009. Government publication.

References[]

  1. ^ The International Author's Who's Who, ed. Ernest Kay, Melrose Press Ltd, 1986, p. 799
  2. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry 18th ed., vol. 2, ed. Peter Townend, 1969, p. 482
  3. ^ "Gaia Servadio obituary" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Andrew and Suzanne Edwards (16 February 2013). "From Designer to Journalist: An Interview with Gaia Servadio". Times of Sicily. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  5. ^ Pugliese, Associate Professor of Modern European History Stanislao (22 August 2002). "The Most Ancient of Minorities: The Jews of Italy". Greenwood Press – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Burton, Humphrey (20 July 2011). "William Mostyn-Owen obituar". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  7. ^ LIFE. Time Inc. 7 June 1968. pp. 83–84. ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  8. ^ Helyer-Donaldson, Rachel (8 January 2010). "Boris Johnson's first wife marries again". Theweek.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Orlando Mostyn Owen | The Royal Drawing School". The Royal Drawing School. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Alain Elkann Interviews Gaia Servadio writer, historian and broadcaster". Alainelkanninterviews.com. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Gaia Servadio obituary". The Times. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021. (subscription required)
  12. ^ "Morta la scrittrice Gaia Servadio, una vita tra romanzi, saggi e documentari". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
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