Catterina Vizzani on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Catterina Vizzani, known as Giovanni Bordoni (1719–1743), was an Italian person who became famous after death for living life as a man, despite being known as a woman early in life and after death.
Who's who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II
(2001) * Rudolf Dekker & Lotte van de Pol (1995). Kvinnor i manskläder. En avvikande tradition. Europa 1500-1800. Stockholm: Östlings Bokförlag Symposion. (In Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vizzani, Catterina 1719 births 1743 deaths Female-to-male cross-dressers 18th-century Italian LGBT people
Catterina Vizzani, known as Giovanni Bordoni (1719–1743), was an Italian person who became famous after death for living life as a man, despite being known as a woman early in life and after death.
Life
Vizzani was born to a carpenter inRome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. At some point, Vizzani ran away from home to Viterbo
Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...
, and adopted male clothing and the male identity of Giovanni Bordoni.
Vizzani worked for a vicar in Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
for four years. Vizzani then worked as a footman
A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage.
Etymology
Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...
for the noble Cavaliere Francesco Maria Pucci in Monte Pulciano. As Bordoni, Vizzani was widely known for love affairs with women and had the reputation of a seducer. In 1743, Vizzani convinced the niece of a vicar to elope in Rome. The couple was intercepted along the way and Vizzani was mortally wounded.
On Vizzani’s deathbed, Vizzani allegedly confessed to a nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
about the sex Vizzani was assigned at birth. Vizzani then allegedly asked to be buried in women's clothing and to be honored as a virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
.
Giovanni Battista Bianchi, an Italian surgeon, examined Vizzani's remains to establish if there were any physical explanation of Vizzani’s sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
. Vizzani's funeral was widely attended, as the public regarded the deceased as a woman who died for virginity.
Legacy
Bianchi later published a biography of Vizzani titled (Venezia: Occhi, Simone, 1744), making Vizzani famous. It was later translated to English as ''The True History and Adventures of Catharine Vizzani'' (1751).See also
*Catharina Margaretha Linck Catharina is a feminine given name, the Dutch and Swedish spelling of the name Catherine. In the Netherlands, people use a great number of short forms in daily life, including ''Carine'', ''Catelijne'', ''Cato'', ''Ina'', ''Ineke'', ''Kaat'', ''Kaat ...
References
* http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/vizzani.htm * Robert Aldrich, Garry WotherspoonWho's who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II
(2001) * Rudolf Dekker & Lotte van de Pol (1995). Kvinnor i manskläder. En avvikande tradition. Europa 1500-1800. Stockholm: Östlings Bokförlag Symposion. (In Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vizzani, Catterina 1719 births 1743 deaths Female-to-male cross-dressers 18th-century Italian LGBT people