Maria Villavecchia Bellonci (30 November 1902 – 13 May 1986) was an Italian writer, historian and journalist, known especially for her biography of

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...

. She and

Guido Alberti Guido Alberti (20 April 1909 Birth name: Guido Renato Vittorio Alberti. – 3 August 1996) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1963 and 1993. Selected filmography * ''Wild Love'' (1956) - Sor Alberto (uncredited) * ...

established the

Strega Prize The Strega Prize ( it, Premio Strega ) is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction written in the Italian language by an author of any nationality and first published ...

in 1947.

Biography

Bellonci was born Maria Villavecchia in Rome on 30 November 1902. Her father, Gerolamo Vittorio Villavecchia, was a professor of chemistry, and came from an aristocratic Piedmontese family, while her mother, Felicita Bellucci, came from Umbria. She had three younger siblings, a brother Leo and a sister, Gianna. From 1913, she studied at the Liceo Umberto, graduating in 1921. She married the journalist Goffredo Bellonci in 1928. Following the Second World War, the Belloncis established a salon at their residence, the ''Amici della domenica'' (''Friends of Sunday'') inviting Italian literates to discuss the promotion of Italian culture. Bellonci's husband died in August 1964. Bellonci died on 13 May 1986 in Rome.

Career

Literary

Aged 19, Bellonci wrote ''Clio e le amazzoni'', a novel that remained unpublished, but which circulated in Italian literary circles and introduced her to her future husband Goffredo Bellonci. Bellonci's literary debut was in 1939 with the acclaimed biography of

, published in Italian by Mondadori, and translated into twelve languages. This and her subsequent works on historical subjects, based on rich and detailed research of extant primary documents, were lauded for their vivid reconstructions and psychological motivations of their characters from which the public obtained a credible picture of history stripped of legends and accretions over the centuries. She concentrated on the great

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

families:

Borgias The House of Borgia ( , ; Spanish and an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...

Estes Estes is an English-language surname said to derive from Old English and have the meaning "of the East" (literally, "East's"). As a surname, it has been traced to southern Kent, as early as the mid-15th century, Nicholas Estes (Ewstas, Esteuzi) b. ...

, Gonzagas and Sforzas. Especially welcomed was her focus on women in the Renaissance and their interactions with power. Although these works were written in the genre of historical fiction, they were fully documented histories. By 1972, Bellonci was beginning to experiment with the form. For the first time, in the compendium ''Tu vipera gentile'', she introduced fictional characters in order to propel the historical narrative. Similarly, her final novel ''Rinascimento Privato'' (''Private Renaissance'') which came out in 1985, was written in the first person by the protagonist

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

; she added fictional characters to describe historical events, in essence creating a ''metahistorical novel''. Furthermore, contrasting this depiction of Isabella with her previous appearances in Bellonci's works (e.g. in ''Lucrezia Borgia''), Bellonci was able to show how ''subjective and ideologically malleable historical interpretation may be.''

Culture, activism, journalism

Bellonci was actively involved in the promotion of Italian culture. Along with her husband and

, she established the literary ''

Premio Strega The Strega Prize ( it, Premio Strega ) is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction written in the Italian language by an author of any nationality and first published ...

'' in 1947. She recounted its history in her 1971 book ''Come un racconto. Gli anni del Premio Strega''. She was a columnist in periodicals such as ''Il punto'' (1958–64), and ''Il Messaggero'' (1964-70). Many of these articles were compiled and republished in ''Pubblici segreti'' (two volumes, 1965 and 1989). Her collection of articles on Italian cities were republished posthumously in ''Segni sul muro'' (''Signs on the wall'', 1989).

Translation

Bellonci was inspired by

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, ; ), was a 19th-century French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (''The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de P ...

, and translated some of his work into Italian: ''Vanina Vanini e altre cronache italiane'' (1961), ''La duchessa di Paliano'' (1994). Among her other translations are

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

' ''I tre moschettieri'' (1977) and

Emile Zola Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

's ''Nana'' (1955).

Awards

Bellonci was awarded the

Viareggio Prize The Viareggio Prize ( it, Premio Viareggio, italic=no or ) is an Italian literary prize, first awarded in 1930. Named after the Tuscan city of Viareggio, it was conceived by three friends, , Carlo Salsa and Leonida Rèpaci, to rival the Milanes ...

in 1939 for ''Lucrezia Borgia''. In 1979, she won the Premio San Gerolamo for her literary oeuvre. She was posthumously awarded the Strega prize in 1986 for '' Rinascimento privato''.

Bibliography

* ''Lucrezia Borgia. La sua vita e i suoi tempi'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1939. * ''Segreti dei Gonzaga'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1947. * '' Milano Viscontea'', Torino, Edizioni Radio Italiana, 1956. * ''Pubblici segreti'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1965. * ''Come un racconto. Gli anni del Premio Strega'', Milano, Club degli Editori, 1969. * '' Tu vipera gentile. Delitto di stato, Soccorso a Dorotea, Tu vipera gentile'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1972. * '' Marco Polo'', Torino, ERI, 1982. * '' Rinascimento privato'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1985. * ''Io e il Premio Strega'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1987. . * ''Segni sul muro'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1988. . * ''Pubblici segreti n. 2'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1989. . * ''Il Premio Strega'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 1995. . * ''Gente in castello'', Milano, A. Mondadori, 2007. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellonci, Maria 1902 births 1986 deaths Strega Prize winners Viareggio Prize winners 20th-century Italian novelists