Gaia Cecilia Metella Servadio[1] (13 September 1938 – 20 August 2021) was an Italian writer.[2]
Gaia Servadio | |
|---|---|
 Hosting After Dark in 1988 | |
| Born | Gaia Cecilia Metella Servadio 13 September 1938 Padua, Italy |
| Died | 20 August 2021 (aged 82) Rome, Italy |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse(s) | William Mostyn-Owen (c. 1961–1989) Hugh Myddelton (c. 1995-2021) |
| Children | 3, including Allegra Mostyn-Owen |
Early life and career
editServadio was born in Padua, the daughter of industrial chemist[3] Luxardo Servadio and wife Bianca Prinzi.[4] Her father was Jewish and her mother was Sicilian and Catholic.[5] She received a bachelor's degree from London's Camberwell School of Art.[4]
Her first novel Tanto gentile e tanto onesta, aka Melinda, was published in 1967 by Feltrinelli in Italy and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, and was "a runaway success".[4]
Personal life
editServadio was married to the British art historian William Mostyn-Owen c. 1961–1989, and they had three children, Owen (b. 1962), Allegra (b. 1964) and Orlando (b. 1973).[6] In 1968, they were living in "23 rooms or so" of one wing of Aberuchill Castle, Perthshire, Scotland.[7]
Their daughter Allegra, an art teacher, was the first wife of the politician Boris Johnson.[8] Their son Orlando is an artist and a painter.[9]
Servadio lived in Belgravia, London.[10] Following her divorce from Mostyn-Owen, in 1995 Servadio married Hugh Robert Myddelton, of Chirk Castle in Wales, another former Etonian.[11] In 2001 their surname was changed to Myddelton Biddulph, and they became Hugh Robert Myddelton Biddulph and Gaia Servadio Myddelton Biddulph.[12] They remained married until her death.[13] She died on 20 August 2021.[14][15]
Works
editFiction
edit- Tanto gentile e tanto onesta (Feltrinelli, 1967)
- Don Giovanni e L'azione consiste (Feltrinelli, 1968)
- Il Metodo. Milano. 1970.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|agency=ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Un'infanzia diversa (Rizzoli, 1988)
- Il lamento di Arianna (La Tartaruga, 1988)
- La storia di R. (Rizzoli, 1990)
- Abramo, La vallata. 1990.
- E i morti non sanno (Dario Flaccovio Ed., 2005)
- Raccogliamo le vele - Autobiografia (Feltrinelli, 2014)
- Servadio, Gaia (2017). Didone Regina. Milano. ISBN 97-88-89342-023-5.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|agency=ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Giudei, Milano, Bompiani, 2021.
Music
edit- La vera Traviata. Libretto, in Angelo Inglese, cantata scenica in un prologo, 7 scene ed epilogo, 2013.
- The Last Zodiac, Poems, in Marcello Panni, 12 Lieder for voice and orchestra, 2015.
Non-fiction
edit- Angelo La Barbera. A profile of a Mafia Boss, London, Quartet Books, 1974.
- Mafioso, London, Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, 1976.
- To a Different World, London, Hamish Hamilton 1979.
- Luchino Visconti, Mondadori, 1980.
- La Donna del Rinascimento, Garzanti, 1986.
- Traviata. Vita di Giuseppina Strepponi, Rizzoli, 1994.
- Servadio, Gaia (1993). Incontri. Forster, Sraffa, Lowell, Matta, McCarthy. Abramo. ISBN 978-88-8324-056-0.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|agency=ignored (help) - Mozia. Alla scoperta di una civiltà scomparsa, Flaccovio Dario, 2003.
- Servadio, Gaia (2004). Rossini. Una vita. Dario Flaccovio. ISBN 978-88-7758-554-7.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|agency=ignored (help) - Sammezzano, London, Idea Books, 2007.
- Il Rinascimento allo specchio, Milano, Salani, 2007.
- Gods, Sailors and Merchants. The Whitakers and Marsala wine, Torino, Allemandi&C, 2009
- Incoronata pazza. Il mistero di Giovanna, figlia di re, madre di re, regina sacrificata, Milano, Salani, 2010.
- C'è del marcio in Inghilterra, Milano, Salani, 2011.
- Poetry. Tuscany and Umbria, a collection of Poetry of Place, London, Eland, 2011.
- Gioachino Rossini Una vita, Feltrinelli 2015.
- I viaggi di Dio, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2016.
- L'italiano più famoso del mondo: vita e avventure di Giovanni Belzoni, Milano, Bompiani, 2018.
- A Wartime Childhood, London, John Sandoe, 2020.
Curatorial
edit- Ancient Syrian writings: Syrian preclassical and classical texts, Damascus, General Secretariat of Damascus, 2009. Government publication.
References
edit- ^ The International Author's Who's Who, ed. Ernest Kay, Melrose Press Ltd, 1986, p. 799
- ^ Burke's Landed Gentry 18th ed., vol. 2, ed. Peter Townend, 1969, p. 482
- ^ "Gaia Servadio obituary". 23 September 2023 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
- ^ a b c Andrew and Suzanne Edwards (16 February 2013). "From Designer to Journalist: An Interview with Gaia Servadio". Times of Sicily. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
- ^ Pugliese, Associate Professor of Modern European History Stanislao (22 August 2002). The Most Ancient of Minorities: The Jews of Italy. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313318955 – via Google Books.
- ^ Burton, Humphrey (20 July 2011). "William Mostyn-Owen obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
- ^ LIFE. Time Inc. 7 June 1968. pp. 83–84. ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ^ Helyer-Donaldson, Rachel (8 January 2010). "Boris Johnson's first wife marries again". Theweek.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
- ^ "Orlando Mostyn Owen | The Royal Drawing School". The Royal Drawing School. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ "Alain Elkann Interviews Gaia Servadio writer, historian and broadcaster". Alainelkanninterviews.com. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
- ^ "Gaia: A Celebration". Italian Cultural Institute. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "Change of Name and/or Arms". The Gazette. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ evening standard 21 September 1994 article Neroli Lawson "English men are hopeless but i married two of them
- ^ "Gaia Servadio obituary". The Times. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021. (subscription required)
- ^ "Morta la scrittrice Gaia Servadio, una vita tra romanzi, saggi e documentari". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.