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

Early life and career

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

Camberwell School of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgradu ...

. 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".

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). In 1968, they were living in "23 rooms or so" of one wing of

Aberuchill Castle Aberuchill Castle is located west of Comrie in Perthshire, Scotland. It comprises an early 17th-century tower house, which was extended and remodelled in the 19th century. The house, excluding the later west wing, is protected as a category A li ...

, Perthshire, Scotland. Their daughter Allegra, an art teacher, was the first wife of the politician

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...

. Their son Orlando is an artist and a painter. Servadio lived in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a danger ...

, London. Following her divorce from Mostyn-Owen, in 1995 Servadio married Hugh Robert Myddelton, of Chirk Castle in Wales, another former Etonian. In 2001 their surname was changed to Myddelton Biddulph, and they became Hugh Robert Myddelton Biddulph and Gaia Servadio Myddelton Biddulph. They remained married until her death. She died on 20 August 2021.

Works

Fiction

* ''Tanto gentile e tanto onesta'' (Feltrinelli, 1967) * ''Don Giovanni e L'azione consiste'' (Feltrinelli, 1968) * * ''Un'infanzia diversa'' (Rizzoli, 1988) * ''Il lamento di Arianna'' (La Tartaruga, 1988) * ''La storia di R.'' (Rizzoli, 1990) * * ''E i morti non sanno'' (Dario Flaccovio Ed., 2005) * ''Raccogliamo le vele - Autobiografia'' (Feltrinelli, 2014) * * ''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. * * '' Mozia. Alla scoperta di una civiltà scomparsa,'' Flaccovio Dario, 2003. * * ''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 Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Servadio, Gaia 1938 births 2021 deaths Writers from Padua People from Belgravia Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom Italian people of Jewish descent Italian women novelists 20th-century Italian women writers 21st-century Italian women writers