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The Scorpioni ("Scorpions") were a small group of elderly English ladies who lived in
Zeffirelli talks about ''The Scorpioni''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scorpioni, The Culture in Florence History of Florence World War II civilian prisoners British expatriates in Italy Friendship Women in Italy
The Scorpioni ("Scorpions") were a small group of elderly English ladies who lived in Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
in the 1930s and 1940s. They were given this name because they were known for their arch humour.
Members
One of them was an English governess called Mary O'Neill.History
The ladies spent their days in Gran Caffè Doney which was a very Englishcafeteria
A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school ...
on Via Tornabuoni. They also liked visiting the Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
and English Cemetery of Florence. When World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
began, the ladies were put under arrest in San Gimignano
San Gimignano () is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of ...
.
This group of women is mentioned in the memoirs of writer Violet Trefusis
Violet Trefusis (''née'' Keppel; 6 June 1894 – 29 February 1972) was an English socialite and author. She is chiefly remembered for her lengthy affair with the writer Vita Sackville-West that both women continued after their respective marria ...
and also in those of director Franco Zeffirelli
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...
. Zeffirelli described the Scorpioni looking after him as a young orphan in Florence. The ladies were subsequently taken to an internment camp by Italian forces, and Zeffirelli never saw them again.
Zeffirelli recalled that the leader of this colony was an old dowager who often acted selfishly, but was so rich and powerful that nobody ever dared to complain.
Popular culture
The film ''Tea with Mussolini
''Tea with Mussolini'' ( it, Un tè con Mussolini) is a 1999 Anglo-Italian semi-autobiographical comedy-drama war film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, scripted by John Mortimer, telling the story of a young Italian boy's upbringing by a circle o ...
'' was based on this group of ladies.
References
External links
Zeffirelli talks about ''The Scorpioni''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scorpioni, The Culture in Florence History of Florence World War II civilian prisoners British expatriates in Italy Friendship Women in Italy