Roberto Rossellini (Rome, 8 May 1906 – Rome, 3 June 1977) by Elena Dagrada University of Milan
Roberto Rossellini (Rome, 8 May 1906 – Rome, 3 June 1977) by Elena Dagrada University of Milan him to interrupt regular studies, continu- ing his education in his family’s cultural sa- lon where his father, a cultivated man with creative ambitions and a liberal spirit, used to gather intellectuals, artists, musicians and writers. There the young Rossellini developed an unquenchable curiosity for both humanities and science, one that ac- companied him until the end of his life. At the same time, he showed an adventurous nature—he ran away from home many times—and a passion for aviation and rac- ing cars. Indeed, throughout his life he took part in many car races, including the Roberto Rossellini was born in Rome on 8 Mille Miglia. May 1906. His paternal family was origi- After his father’s untimely death, he dissi- nally from Pisa, Tuscany, and owned a pated his heritage and moved to the bath- construction company, which, in the sec- ing site of Ladispoli, where he met his first ond half of the nineteenth century, con- wife, Marcella De Marchis (married in tributed to the urban development in the 1936, mother of his first two sons, Ro- capital city of the newly born Kingdom of mano and Renzo), and shot his first exper- Italy. His father, Angiolo Giuseppe, also imental shorts: they were mostly natural- built a couple of movie theatres, and there istic fables (i.e. La vispa Teresa [Lively Te- the young Rossellini would benefit from resa], 1940, illustrating a nursery rhyme) an unlimited pass and watch films for free.
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