Laura Orvieto and the Classical Heritage in Italy Before the Second World War*
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
chapter 5 Laura Orvieto and the Classical Heritage in Italy before the Second World War* Valentina Garulli To Elda Baldi Montesano, who gently opened my eyes to the wonderland of literature, to life. ⸪ Introduction Molti e molti anni fa c’era nell’Asia, vicino al mare, una città che si chia- mava Troia. Il re di Troia si chiamava Ilo…1 * I would like to thank Caterina Del Vivo (Director of the Historical Archive at the “Gabinetto G.P. Vieusseux,” Florence, and of the Tuscany Section at the Associazione Nazionale Ar- chivisti Italiani) for her precious advice, generous help, and support at every stage of this project. The unpublished documents quoted in the following belong to the Contemporary Archive “Alessandro Bonsanti: Gabinetto G.P. Vieusseux,” Florence (henceforth mentioned as acgv): my warmest thanks to Gloria Manghetti (Director of the Contemporary Archive) for kindly granting me permission to use and publish this material, and to Fabio Desideri (Con- temporary Archive) for his help with the manuscript material. My gratitude also to Guido Bastianini, Patrick Finglass, Lucia Floridi, Gabriella Gruder-Poni, Camillo Neri, and Vinicio Tammaro for reading a first draft of this paper and making useful comments. Laura’s and Angiolo Orvieto’s writings will be referred to as follows. Laura Orvieto’s works (ordered by date): Orvieto, Leo e Lia = Laura Orvieto, Leo e Lia. Storia di due bambini italiani con una gover nante inglese [Firenze: Bemporad, 1909], illustrazioni di Vanna Vinci (Firenze: Giunti, 2011). Orvieto, Storie greche e barbare = Laura Orvieto, Storie della storia del mondo. Greche e barbare [Firenze: Bemporad, 1911, but in fact 1910] (Firenze: Giunti, 1961). Orvieto, Principesse = Laura Orvieto, Principesse, bambini e bestie (Firenze: Bemporad, 1914). Orvieto, Fiorenza = Laura Orvieto, Sono la tua serva e tu sei il mio Signore. Così visse Flor ence Nightingale (Firenze: Le Monnier, 1920). Orvieto, Beppe racconta = Laura Orvieto, Beppe racconta la guerra (Firenze: Bemporad, 1925). Orvieto, Il natale = Laura Orvieto, Storie della storia del mondo. Il natale di Roma (Firenze: Bemporad, 1928). © Valentina Garulli, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004335370_007 Valentina Garulli - 9789004335370 This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-NDDownloaded 4.0 license.from Brill.com09/26/2021 08:40:05PM via free access 66 Garulli These words, written more than twenty years ago, introduced me for the first time to a fascinating fantastical world, which would continue to engross me so much that it became my everyday world: the classical world. These words, so maternal and charming, are Laura Orvieto’s, who opens her retelling of the great and spellbinding story of Troy, addressing her children Leo and Lia with- in the literary fiction and, through them, children all around the world. All around the world, indeed, because this book—Storie della storia del mondo. Greche e barbare—was immediately and lastingly successful and was translated into several languages. It is known in the English-speaking world as Stories of Greece and the Barbarians (1966),2 in French as Légendes du monde grec et bar bare (1924),3 and in Dutch as Grieken en Trojanen: De ondergang van Troje (1927).4 Orvieto, La forza = Laura Orvieto, Storie della storia del mondo. La forza di Roma (Firenze: Bemporad, 1933). Orvieto, Storie di bambini = Laura Orvieto, Storie di bambini molto antichi [Milano: Mon- dadori, 1937] (Milano: Mondadori, 1971). Orvieto, Stories = Laura Orvieto, Stories of Greece and the Barbarians, adapted and trans. by Barbara Whelpton, illustrated by Clifton Dey [London–Toronto–New York: Burke, 1966] (London–Toronto–New York: Burke, 1983). Orvieto, Storia di Angiolo e Laura = Laura Orvieto, Storia di Angiolo e Laura (Fondazione Carlo Marchi. Quaderni, 11), a c. di Caterina Del Vivo (Città di Castello, PG: Leo S. Olschki, 2001). Orvieto, Viaggio = Laura Orvieto, Viaggio meraviglioso di Gianni nel paese delle parole. Fantasia grammaticale (Fondazione Carlo Marchi. Quaderni, 32), a c. di Caterina Del Vivo (Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 2007). Angiolo Orvieto’s works cited: A. Orvieto, “Barbari” = Angiolo Orvieto, “Barbari,” Il Marzocco 2.7 (March 21, 1897): 2. A. Orvieto, “I papiri” = Angiolo Orvieto, “I papiri e l’Italia,” Il Marzocco 13.3 (January 19, 1908): 1. In the texts cited below I will use expanded character spacing in order to emphasise some words and concepts. 1 “Ilus was a great builder who, many centuries ago, reigned over Troy which lies in north-west Asia Minor” (Orvieto, Stories, 9). 2 Orvieto, Stories. This translation is quoted in this chapter only when it does not omit any- thing of the original text. 3 Trans. Sylvère Monod (Paris: Nathan). 4 Trans. J. Henzel (Zutphen: W.J. Thieme). A whole list of Laura’s books, including their transla- tions into different languages, is found in Caterina Del Vivo, ed., Fondo Orvieto. Serie i. Cor rispondenza generale. Lettere A–B, premessa di Paolo Bagnoli (Firenze: Polistampa, 1994), 49–50: the papers of the “Fondo Orvieto” (acgv, Florence) attest that Bemporad publisher sold translation rights into Spanish and Hebrew for Storie greche e barbare in 1928 and 1955, respectively. Del Vivo, ed., Fondo Orvieto, 50, also mentions a translation into Czech. See also Caterina Del Vivo, “Educare narrando ‘storie.’ Miti classici, tradizione ebraica, echi del Valentina Garulli - 9789004335370 Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 08:40:05PM via free access Laura Orvieto and the Classical Heritage in Italy 67 Telling stories was Laura’s5 talent: the story I want to tell is autobiographical to some extent, because Laura’s introduction to the classical world was my own first introduction as a child. Angiolo, Laura, and the Classical World Who was Laura Orvieto? Let us make her acquaintance. Once upon a time— as she would write—she was born in Milan as Laura Cantoni, into a Jewish middle-class family (March 7, 1876). Her fondness for literature was strong from her youth: she used to read “furiously”—“furiosamente,” she writes in her unpublished autobiography Storia di Angiolo e Laura6—any book she came upon. At the same time, she felt the need to help people and “to do something in the world.” She looked with great interest at the educational activity of the teacher and writer Rosa Errera (1864–1946), who had been her own teacher at the “Scuola Normale Gaetana Agnesi” for girls and who taught afterschool courses (Scuola e famiglia) for children of the working class. Laura’s family did not allow her to follow Rosa in this endeavour because of her social status, and so it was that her love for children and storytelling found expression within her family, in the stories she used to tell her young cousins.7 Novecento nella letteratura per ragazzi di Laura Orvieto,” in Antonella Cagnolati, ed., Madri sociali. Percorsi di genere tra educazione, politica e filantropia (Roma: Anicia, 2011), 154; Aldo Cecconi, “La fortuna editoriale delle Storie della storia del mondo. Greche e barbare,” in aa.vv., Laura Orvieto: la voglia di raccontare le “Storie del mondo.” Atti della Giornata di studio. Firenze, Palazzo Strozzi, 19 ottobre 2011, Antologia Vieusseux n.s. 18/53–54 (May–December 2012): 75–84. 5 In the following I will refer to Laura Orvieto as Laura for the sake of brevity and for avoiding confusion with Angiolo Orvieto. 6 Orvieto, Storia di Angiolo e Laura, 61. For Laura’s life, see also Caterina Del Vivo, “Laura Or vieto: per una biografia,” in aa.vv., Laura Orvieto: la voglia di raccontare le “Storie del mondo”, 10ff. 7 In Luigi Tonelli’s interview, “Laura Orvieto,” L’Italia che scrive 16.5 (May 1933), 129, Laura says: “Probabilmente, erano tutte reminiscenze di cose che avevo sentito dire; ma non me ne rendevo conto. Quando cominciavo, non sapevo mai come sarebbe andata a finire la sto- ria; l’inventavo, mentre raccontavo, o mi pareva d’inventarla, divertendomi mezzo mondo. Divertivo, probabilmente, anche i miei piccoli amici, giacché, appena mi vedevano, chie- devano le novelle… Devo confessare che la compagnia dei bambini è stata sempre, per me, la più gradita; nessuna conversazione, anche assai piacevole, di grandi, mi ha mai dato il piacere, che provo, stando coi piccoli, e seguendoli nelle manifestazioni della loro in- cipiente intelligenza.” See also Del Vivo, “Laura Orvieto: per una biografia,” 14–15. On Laura and the children, see also Giuliana Treves Artom, “Ricordando Laura Orvieto,” in Caterina Del Vivo, ed., Il Marzocco. Carteggi e cronache fra Ottocento e avanguardie (1887–1913). Valentina Garulli - 9789004335370 Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 08:40:05PM via free access 68 Garulli Laura’s education was the standard basic education reserved for women at the so-called “scuole normali,”8 but afterward her family allowed her to im- prove her knowledge of English literature by taking private lessons from a young teacher from Newcastle, Lily Marshall, who, along with Rosa Errera, be- came one of Laura’s female reference points and a close friend.9 Her familiarity with the classical world increased after her marriage in 1899 to Angiolo Orvieto (1869–1967), a Jewish poet, journalist, and founder— together with his brother Adolfo—of the cultural journal Il Marzocco (1896– 1932).10 With him she moved to Florence.11 Laura and Angiolo’s relationship involved a complete and deep commu- nity of interests: they shared their projects and ideas throughout their life together.12 So Angiolo’s interest in the classical world involved and affected Laura, too. Atti del seminario di studi (12–13–14 dicembre 1983) (Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 1985), 365. On Laura’s commitment to Jewish orphans, see Lionella Viterbo, “Impegno sociale ed educa- tivo nella comunità ebraica fiorentina,” in aa.vv., Laura Orvieto: la voglia di raccontare le “Storie del mondo”, 65–73.