OLGA RUDGE FINDS A HOME and A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP EMERGES as DOES SERIOUS DEPRESSION

Excerpt: page 83    ... Watts was eager to sell one of three adjoining small houses on a cul-de-sac near the old church of Santa Maria della Salte in Dorsodura, the quiet "back" of the city. ...  Olga began to consider ways to get together enough money.  "It was the house that changed my life, ad I got it just for the asking." she remembered "First I asked Ramooh is she would give me what she had promised in her will now -- to buy a house --- and she said, "Yes."  That was half. Then I wrote my father and asked him if he could give me the rest, and if so, to cable, "yes" and he did. I still feel guilty at not having told my father that I had not seen the house (he was in the real estate business).  If I had, he might not have acted at once.  As it was , he lost his money in the 1929 stock market crash, and I would have been left with nothing but my three year old."

Excerpt page 84: Olga arrived in late November 1928. "To call it the smallest house in Venice (is) pretty near the truth...

***

It was the only house she would ever own though she had the rental apartment in Paris for some time. The idea was that Ezra live next door and that she would have Mary live with her, that they would be a family unit while Ezra would have his own space, but he reacted as if he would be in a cage.The house needed replastering and white-washing.  Olga sent Christmas alone when she wanted Ezra with her, in a hotel while the house was being refurbished. She let him know that she was angry.  They had differences in what we call "world view."

***

Excerpt page 85 (Ezra wrote) ... You have a set of values I don't care a damn for.  I do not care a damn about private affairs, private life, personal interests. You do. It is perfectly right that you should, but you can't drag me into it.  Yeats wrote a long time ago that an artist could not really have friends save among artists.... You want to be the center of the circle.  I can not be in perpetual orbit.

*** 

Ezra was laying down the rules for a relationship.  He basically threatened that he might not continue in it.  

Excerpt page 86 : Early in the new year of 1929, the hard work, the uncertainty, the coldest winter in many years - in Venice, the canals froze over - had broken Olga's spirit.  In deep depression, she wrote to Ezra, crossing our some of the most painful passages; "I have tried very hard to go on some of the more painful passages, "I have tried very hard to go on working, but I can't... nearly two months since I tried to finish things.  You didn't want to keep me -- or to give me any reason, except unjust ones....."

***

Ezra was not sympathetic.  He urged her to have the company of men younger than him. Slowly she emerged from her depression.  She realized that Ezra thought of their relationship as the "impresario and the impressed."  

Ezra might have had Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  While accusing Olga of wanting to only have her way, he was not accomodating.

During the 1930's Great Depression era, Olga went into a serious depression again and since everyone was effected she limited what she would accept from Ezra as support of their daughter Mary.  There were times when he backed out of the relationship, and she knew it, but their daughter Mary had to be considered.  Over the years the two would work out their relationship, and if secrets were kept from family or society, certainly discretion and Ezra's wife Dorothy, had to be part of the arrangements.

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VENICE

 

FLORANCE

 

NAPOLEON I

N Laugier, graveur; Charles de Steuben, editeur, baron (1788–1856)

Location : Musée Carnavalet

He was about five foot six, but then men were not as tall as they are now generally.  There was even talk that he's special parts were insignificant.  He was also compartmentalized.  He was a natural leader and he changed history.  Thousands fought with him and for him, believing his military campaigns would benefit their countries or their politics.  Thousands died on the battlefields as soldiers but also as civilians.

Interested in all things Napoleon?  Learned that there is an online website devoted to him and here's the link: NAPOLEON ORG and FOUNDATION OF NAPOLEON

UP WITH ADULTERY ? AN ITALIAN WOMAN's MANIFESTO !

THE CUT : UP WITH ADULTERY - AN ITALIAN WOMAN's MANIFESTO by Maureen O'Conner.

This is an interview with author Guia Soncini who wrote the book 'I Mariti delle Altre."

Excerpt: Guia Soncini speaking

'When I was growing up, my mother also had friends who were the other woman. They had apartments that they waited for their men in.  You know the Mitterand thing from France, where he had a daughter from a sort of parallel marriage?  These women had that arrangement, and many famous Italians have, too.  In my book, I wrote about the director Vittorio De Sica, whose son wrote the father's adultery in his memoir; Marcello Mastroianni, who never divorced his wife despite having a daughter with Catherine Deneuve and a 22 year relationship with Anna Maria Tato; and Eugenio Scalfari, who founded and edited the newspaper I wrote for, La Repubblica, wrote about his double ménage in his autobiography; It's not cheating so much as polygamy that the law doesn't recognize.  At a certain point in the book, I ask, "Why do we think the cheater is the winner and the woman is the victim,?' ...

*Missy here - Editing notes are mine.

THE LITERARY COURTESAN POET TULLIA D'ARAGONA - A BIOGAPHY OF ITALIAN WOMEN WRITERS

CHICAGO EDU : ITALIAN WOMEN WRITERS : TULIA D'ARAGONA    This biography follows Tullia's travels and residence in various cities of Italy and assorted companions.

In the following passage it is suggested that she may have given birth to a daughter:  On 10 March 1535, Penelope d'Aragona was born. Scholars disagree whether Penelope is Tullia's sister or daughter.  Although twenty to twenty-five years is a significant age difference between siblings it is not an entirely implausible gap.

This next passage suggests that she married and had a son:  On 8 January 1643, in Siena, d'Aragona married Silvestro Guicciardi or Ferrara, although nothing more is known of this relationship, except for a malicious comment by Agnolo Firenzuola that d'Aragona let her husband die of hunger.  The marriage was useful to d'Aragona, for later she used it to exempt herself from living in the neighborhood designated for prostitutes and from wearing apparel designed to differentiate them from, noblewomen.  From d' Aragona's will, preserved in the State Archives in Rome, we learn that she eventually had a son, named Celio, although given that he was young and iin the care of Pietro Chiocca in 1556, we do not know if Guicciardi was indeed his father.

NUNS, WIVES, and COURTESANS in the ITALIAN RENAISSANCE PERIOD - PROFESSE - MOGLIE - CORTIGIANA

ANNAS RENAISSANCE ITALIAN : EXCELLENT WRITING ON ITALIAN WOMEN 

I was so impressed with this brief but intelligent piece about women in Renaissance Italy that includes Tullia D'Aragona.  And very good pictures too.

Excerpt: The primary female role in the domestic sphere was expanded by notable women who, by virtue of Renaissance education and new society=al expectations, became art patrons, writers, orators, and simply women of intellect.  Wives assumed a background role in the sustenance of political stability for a spouse.  Women who entered the convent participated in Renaissance cultural novelties; some nuns, professe, received a full humanistic education.  Courtesans, cortigiana, enjoyed a glamourous lifestyle augmented by an education that enabled intellectual interactions in a secular rather than a religious domain.  Whether in marriage, in the convent, in court or in a position of service, each group of women were integral in shaping cultural and societal changes through the Italian Renaissance period.

FOUNTAIN BY THE VATICAN BASILICA

A SMATTERING OF BOOKS - TULLIA D'ARAGONA

I noticed that fairly recent books are about or include Tullia D'Aragona. I was unable to obtain these books from my library but I wanted to mention them.  Here they are...

Note that the painting used for this book cover was done in 1540 and the artist was Moretto Da Brescia.  It's of Tullia d'Aragona as the Biblical Salome.

GEORGEBRAZILLER : REVIEW OF BOOK  The book features 55 poems she wrote to men and their responsive letters back to her - also poetical. Book author is the well regarded Elizabeth Pallitto.

DID TALLIA USE HER POETRY TO SEDUCE? Quite Possibly!

This book is edited by Julia L. Hairston and is also well regarded.  Here is what one reviewer said: 'Hairston has constructed a full personal, cultural, and literary biography for d'Aragona, using newly discovered letters, archival material of other kinds, and contemporary theory about gender in women's writing.  Footnotes establish the intricacy of Tullia's intellectual networks and her courting of intellectuals in rhyme.'

This one by Monika Antes is in Italian and clearly identifies Tullia's mother as a Courtesan. Putting a description through a translator it says: 'Her literary salons in Rome was attended by literati, intellectuals, and prominent figures of contemporary society.  In 1535, she wrote her most famous work, the philosophical dialogue on the infinity of love, in which she distanced herself from classical thinkers by elaborating an original concept of Eros.'

LA FEST DELGI INNSMORATI - THE FEAST OF LOVERS : VALENTINES IN ITALY

 LA FESTA DEGLI INNAMORATI - THE FEAST OF LOVERS

This may surprise you, but Italian Valentine's Day is only for couples - sweethearts, lovers, partners. So if you have an Italian who you thought you were friends with, but now you're getting a card or flowers, maybe he's thinking of you a different way.

Other than that, it's much like in the United States, a day for gifting your partner with romantic cards, poetry, flowers, chocolates - especially chocolate covered cherries, going out to dinner.  And to imbibe in wine with dinner. It's a popular date for marriage proposals. 

The Italians take credit for establishing the holiday to start. February 14th, however, turns out to be a celebration of the ancient, pagan Romans. The Queen of the Roman pantheon of Gods and Goddesses was Juno and she was celebrated as a patroness of women and of marriage.

About 800 years before the best candidate for Saint Valentine was born, this spring festival was also about fertility. February 15th was the feast of Lupercalia in Rome. The idea was not just to bring fertility to humans but also to crops and animals.

What did the pagan Romans do for their festivities? One story is that young men and women would draw names from an urn and whomever they picked by this method became their special friend for a year, a year in which they might decide to marry. Or perhaps that's a bit censored: Maybe they actually enjoyed each other for a year and before the year was up they had to marry.

SMITHSONIAN : 10 Customs of Valentine's Day

ORANGE IS FOR PASSION - WHITE IS FOR RELIGION

Reading about flower language in Italy, 

Orange Lillys are for Passion and White Lillys are for Religion.

Perhaps this bouquet is symbolic of Tullia's parents.

 

16TH CENTURY ITALIAN MUSIC

Tullia might have enjoyed concerts like this! 

Perhaps you can listen to this while you read about her!

TULLIA D'ARAGONA : A RENAISSANCE COURTESAN POET WITH A CATHOLIC CARDINAL AS A FATHER

 TULLIA D'ARAGONA

Image from Pinterest

"La Tullia"

La Tullia was an Italian Renaissance courtesan and honored poet whose birth date and death date are a bit obscure as are other facts about her heritage. I've seen her birth listed as 1501 -1505 and 1510 and her death listed as 1556 and 1570. She was born and died in the city of Rome, though she is known to have traveled and lived in other cities in Italy. This is important because we'd like to know how old she was when she became a Courtesan, though eighteen seems to be the age decided upon. Certainly some women became Courtesans younger than this just as some women married earlier, for it was a time when life expectancy was not what it is today and children leapt into adulthood without the delays we expect today.

Also obscure - her parentage and if her mother was a Courtesan giving birth to an illegitimate daughter or was illegitimate herself. Her mother, considered to be one of the most beautiful women of her time, is mentioned as Giulia (Julia) Pendaglia, possibly a maiden name, as well as Giula Campana, possibly a married name. Her father is mentioned as two possible D'Aragona men; one with no claim to fame, Constanzo Palmierie D'Aragona, who was from Naples and who her mother may have married, possibly to tuck away scandal, or the more noteworthy Cardinal Luigi D'Aragona, who himself was said to be an illegitimate grandson of Ferdinando D'Aragona - once a King of Naples. However her mother is also mentioned as married to another man. Perhaps she married many times. Or perhaps she took the surnames of her best benefactors?

Luigi had a successful career in the church but he was not a Cardinal immediately nor without sin. He was born in 1474 and died in 1519, and so he would not have been around in La Tullia's life for long. He also married a couple years before he entered into the the institution of the Church. His wife was descended from a Pope! But it is said that he was accused of having a sister and her children murdered because he was enraged that she had married and had children beneath the family's status as well. Would such a man not hide his involvement with a Courtesan, considered beneath him in status? I doubt we can be sure centuries later what the truth was.

Like other Courtesans who were accomplished women, she was known for her beauty, manners, charm, and unsaid, her sexuality, La Tullia lived at a time when there was a special place in Italian society for women who lived the life of the Courtesan. She was an intellectual, could hold her own with the intelligencia and the literary, and was a poet. In this way I'm 
reminded of the Geisha of Japan who refined themselves and become artists, dancers, entertainers, and perfect companions and sought to chosen by a benefactor. La Tullia held Salons and her writing and poetry included the philosophical discussions she had with men about love.

The Courtesan lifestyle allowed some women to follow their talents in the arts and to study and to acquire financial support from benefactors rather than be a traditional wife depending on a husband and restricted in the expression of their personal interests. However the Courtesan also experienced a woman's life- pregnancy, miscarriages, childbirth, raising children, and children who died. Some experienced being traded in for other Courtesans, abandonment, or the death of their benefactor. It was common then for Courtesan's daughters to also become Courtesans, for the mother to teach the daughter the ways of that world. It was also a time when it wasn't unusual for priests and other men of authority and power within the Roman Catholic church to take lovers and have children by them. Vows such as poverty or celibacy as we think of them seem not to have existed.

Why is the Cardinal Luigi D' Aragona considered to be La Tullia's father? It is because he provided money for her to become accomplished, suggesting he had a personal interest in her and her mother? A child protégée who could entertain her mother's guests by reciting poetry when she only six years old, she was given an education in the classics that was usually only for rich boys.

She is known to have married once and she may have had a child, a daughter, and definitely had a son but the father(s)?.  This is not to diminish her accomplishments as a writer and philosopher of love.

This month we'll look a bit into Tullia's life as we celebrate Valentine's the Italian way.

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References for this months posts include a variety of articles, files, and books, some which we will link to including Italian Women Writers - Biography, Tullia d' Aragona.. 

WOULD THE TRUTH HAVE COME OUT IF IT WERE NOT FOR THIS BOOK? PAOLA by MARIO DANNEELS

The author was a teenager when he started researching.  An unknown without royal connections, Mario Danneels just thought that Queen Paola was an interesting person who he wanted to write a biography of. Maybe because he was so young he was not thought to be a threat. Soon rumors reached his ears that the King had a love child, Delphine, and that it was an Open Secret. Though the fact was briefly stated in a one-liner in the book, it broke the story and scandal. Mario Danneels continues to be a journalist today. but reportedly lives in Ireland.  Published in 1999, he was working on this book for many years.

Titled "Paola From La Dolce Vita To Queen," I'm sorry to say that I was unable to obtain a copy to read it.  

Born Donna Paola Margherita Maria Antonia Consiglia Ruffo do Calabria, in 1937, this Italian Catholic woman's beauty in the 1950's was compared to that of actress turned Princess, Grace Kelly. The Queen is not just a beautiful woman, but also a devout Catholic who has many talents and interests.

\ROYAL CENTRAL WHO IS QUEEN PAOLA OF BELGIUM

EXCERPT:  It is during this period that Prince Albert is believed to have fathered Dephine Boel (according to her own claims) with Sybille de Selys Longchamps.  it is also believed that in this period, Princess Paola herself was also seeing other men.  However, despite the struggles the pair have faced in their marriage, their relationship improved from the early 1980's, and the couple has chosen to stay together.  In an interview for her 70th birthday in 2007, Paola addressed the subject, saying, "We've had our problems but now we both say that we were meant for each other. We are very happy now.

... About her wedding, when it was thought that Albert's brother was the one who would become King...

EXCERPT: The Royal Household originally wanted to plan a Vatican wedding, with a blessing by Pope John XXIII, however, despite the diplomatic mission to the Pontifical court being led by the groom's father, former King Leopold III of Belgium, his aunt the exiled Queen Marie-Joe of Italy and the bride's brother, Prince Ruffo, the Belgian government denied the wishes of the court and refused to accept the proposal.  The Pope understood the government's concern, never agreeing to partake in the wedding ceremony.  After some deliberation, an international scandal was avoided as the wedding was planned to take place on Belgian soil.

...I have the notion that King Albert II and his wife also felt after such close ties with the Vatican that they could not divorce and be bad examples...

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AMALFI COAST TRAVEL: MISTRESS MANIFESTO TRAVEL BOOK REVIEW

A small but wonderful book that covers the towns perched over the sea including Ravello  with its ancient past of nobility, it's caves, famous artists and musicians who stayed there and enchanted gardens, Furore, where Greta Garbo and Anna Magnani had affairs, Positana with the Galli Islands offshore, Sorrento where the mermaids sang to tempt sailors, and Naples - not far from the volcanic Mount Vesuvius and it's magnificent churches.  (Be sure to cover your shoulders and knees out of respect while visiting churches.)



You may just want to indulge your mermaid fantasy here.

You may also enjoy Amanda Tabberer's "My Amalfi Coast." Amanda is an Australian who once fell in love and married an Amalfi Coast local.


Both books have some recommendations about best restaurants and in Amanda's case places to stay; she has a business offering rentals.  Both books had me ready to go!


Missy

ITALIA

ANCIENT ROMAN WOMEN INCLUDE MISTRESSES

BBC UK HISTORY ANCIENT ROMANS WOMEN by Suzanne Dixon, who has held lecturing positions at both the Australian National University and the University of Queensland.  Since women in ancient Rome overall had lesser status, there is less evidence about the roles they assumed in life.  Learn a little more with this BBC site essay!

RUINS OF ROME

FLORENCE ITALY

pinterest source

THE SECLUDED BRUNA PALOMBO - A LIFE TIME OF MISTRESSING - ALDO GUCCI

UPDATE DAILY MAIL: PATRICIA GUCCI - PAPA HAS A WIFE AND THREE SONS

PATRICIA GUCCI wrote about her childhood,

her mother BRUNA PALOMBO, and her parents relationship in her book,

"In The Name of Gucci."

She has done well,after some soul searching, as the

acknowledged love child of ALDO GUCCI.

Image from Google Images and appears in the book which is C Patricia Gucci.

ALDO GUCCI, MISTRESS BRUNA PALOMBO, and their daughter PATRICIA

BRUNA PALOMBO's story is that of the CLASSIC MISTRESS, the woman who becomes the Mistress of a successful older man when she is young and is financially secure and cared for, for the rest of her life. She never needs to have another man for all the years that this man is alive and she is financially cared for beyond his death. She is very much like a traditional wife in that way.  She doesn't have much experience in relationships with men prior to meeting him.  She doesn't feel the need to seek other relationships, even when he does.

Bruna Palombo was seduced by Aldo Gucci, founder of the famous fashion house that specialized in shoes, luggage, carry bags, and accessories, when he was her boss and she was a youthful virgin with a fiancée. She was raised to be a proper Italian girl who would go along with the usual plan of loyalty and faithfulness to just one man but there were red flags that her relationship with her fiancée had been played out and would not result in happiness.

Her mother suspected something was going on between her daughter and Aldo while she was still living at home. Maybe it was the occasional expensive and fine gift she had been given that she brought home. Bruna's father had died. Perhaps it was pragmatic of her mother to not protest too much either when it became clear she would not marry her fiancée and be with Aldo instead.

Instead of marriage, which he could not offer her since he already was married to his first wife, Olwen Price, with whom Aldo and had three sons, Aldo offered Bruna the next best thing, to be his Mistress. Not long after this he predictably retired her. 

Aldo established a second household and family with Bruna in Britain, where their only child, daughter Patricia, went to school. He was sure to visit them as much as possible, which was generally about once a month for a long weekend. Patricia says that they were so happy during his visits, but between those visits they just went on with their daily lives, a mother and daughter alone, without that happiness.

Aldo had a secret, and like many men who are the founders of families and family businesses, and are much older than their Mistress, there were employees who knew or suspected what was going on, who were sure to either accept this relationship of his or stay out of his private life. This was none of their business.

The day would come when his wife, the former Olwen Price, and first family, would have to accept things as they were, because Aldo acknowledged Patricia. He wanted to live more openly with Bruna. He wanted Patricia to meet her half brothers and slowly integrate this beautiful and intelligent daughter into the Gucci family business in some way, which he did as she reached adulthood herself and he expanded to America.(The sons were in their forties when Patricia finally met them.)  As a teenager Patricia went to boarding school and spent summers with friends, so she and her mom were living separate lives. As an adult she felt she had been deprived of love as a child. She did move forward into becoming a Gucci public relations person, going to events to represent the Gucci company and her father.

Aldo Gucci had also seduced Olwen, in 1927 when she was working as a personal assistant to Princess Elizabeth of Romania, who felt obligated to protect her. It was the princess who had shown up in Florence, Italy to speak to Aldo's father, who had begun the Gucci empire as a small family business of leather luxury goods. His father considered him to be a womanizer and feared he would hurt the family reputation.  Aldo married Olwen. ***

Patricia describes her mother Bruna as a gentle and perhaps fragile woman who did live for and around Aldo and who appreciated fine things but also hated, but endured, social people and parties. She was a private and retiring person, who I suspect was also depressed.  Patricia turned out to be the more gregarious person, like her father, whose personality was very much a part of his success.

Olwen Price, Aldo's wife, was also a loyal and faithful Italian*** woman who did not want a divorce. Olwen seemed to be afraid to make an issue of Bruna, accepting that Italian men thought it acceptable to have a mistress. However, she did let Bruna know she knew about her and Patricia, that they were no secret to her. A go-between told Bruna it would be best if she turned Patricia over to Olwen's care. So Aldo separated the two women and families by establishing Bruna in England.

Patricia got her independence and lived apart from her parents.  As an adult, she felt her mother had been unable to cope with raising her, that Bruna was dependent on Aldo for absolutely everything and rather helpless.

Eventually the plan was for Olwen to stay in Italy and for Aldo and Bruna to leave Britain and live together in Palm Beach, Florida. This they did. It was as if Bruna was his wife in America.  He publicly referred to her as his wife there.  He also managed to stage a marriage ceremony that was questionable.

In November of 1981, twenty five years after they first met, Aldo married Bruna in a hotel suite. He denied that he had married her to his sons. Meanwhile, Olwen fought for her marriage. Aldo found out his marriage to Olwen might be invalid but it was, so that invalidated this "marriage" to Bruna. "Someone went to England to obtain the marriage certificate there and seventy-three year old Olwen took it to Rome and recorded the document there." (197) Yet Bruna was not entirely without feeling for Olwen.  She insisted that Aldo call her every Sunday and not neglect her. (Page 198)

For both Olwen and Bruna, who came to accept that they were man sharing and had very different relationships with him, it was the fact that Aldo had yet another Mistress that threatened to unsettle everyone's existence.


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Quick note here because this is such a popular post. I cannot contact people who claim relationship with the Gucci family, or Bruna Palombo, or Olwen's for genealogy - contact purposes. The book was written by a Aldo and Bruna's daughter.  I suggest that you read her book for yourself and try to send her a letter via the publisher or her agent. Having some familiarity with genealogy in general, I can say that sometimes various stories come forth that are not in agreement.  For the purposes of this blog, which explores the alternative lifestyle of Kept Women and Men, and so on, I select one or more books, read them cover to cover, and try to be judicious in my excerpts and note-taking.  Sometimes I'm a bit more side-taking, questioning, or opinion-making in my narrative. I think the books I select are worth reading and that you may be interested in doing so too! I'm most often not in personal contact with the various persons I choose as subjects or the authors of the books.  Missy

*****

August 2022:  I'm currently reading, via audio book, THE HOUSE OF GUCCI.  So far everything I've read is in agreement with this post. However I just moved a sentence up as a matter of editing and wish to note the following.

*** Olwen's nationality or ethnic heritage was English/British, however she had been living in Italy and would continue to do so, so she lived in Italian and Gucci family culture, in which the wife was/is generally faithful and loyal even if the husband is not.  And while Bruna's nationality or ethnic heritage was Italian, Aldo had her and/or Patricia living in Britain (and sometimes America).

*** According to House of Gucci, Aldo and Olwen were about 21 when they married and their marriage soon became unhappy.  It also says that Aldo had taken Bruna with him to New York when he started expanding to America by opening a New York store.