Elvira Guerra (; 1855–1937) was an Italian equestrienne and

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

performer, notable for competing at the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

, the first Games at which women were allowed to compete. She was the first woman to represent Italy at the Olympics.

Life

Guerra was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

around 1855, daughter of circus performer Rodolfo Guerra. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' mentions her in an 1882 article on Hengler's Grand Cirque. In 1890, she opened the Grand Hippodrome in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. In 1900, she competed in the

in the hacks and hunter combined (''chevaux de selle'') atop her horse Libertin, one of only two female riders, finishing outside the top four. She died in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

in 1937. A street in

is named Rue Elvira Guerra in her honour.

References

External links

* 1855 births 1937 deaths Olympic equestrians of Italy Equestrians at the 1900 Summer Olympics Italian female equestrians Italian circus performers Sportspeople from Saint Petersburg Sportspeople from Bordeaux 19th-century circus performers 20th-century circus performers {{Italy-equestrian-bio-stub