The Scorpioni

The Scorpioni

The Scorpioni was small group of elderly English ladies who lived in Florence in 1930s and 1940s. They were given the name "Scorpioni" because they were known for their arch humour. One of them was an English governess called Mary O'Neill. When World War II began, the ladies were put under arrest in San Gimignano.

The ladies spent their days in Gran Caffé Doney which was a very English cafeteria on Via Tornabuoni. They also liked visiting the Uffizi Gallery and English Cemetery of Florence.

This group of women is mentioned in the memoirs of writer Violet Trefusis and also in those of director Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli describes 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 complained.

The film "Tea with Mussolini" was made about this group of ladies.

External links

* [http://www.tipjar.com/dan/zeffirelli.htm Zeffirelli tells about "The Scorpioni"]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Scorpioni — Die Scorpioni (dt.: Skorpione) waren eine kleine Gruppe englischer Frauen, die in den 30er und 40er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts in Florenz lebten und dort vor allem einen kulturellen Brückenschlag zwischen Großbritannien und Italien schaffen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Un Thé avec Mussolini — Titre original Tea with Mussolini Réalisation Franco Zeffirelli Acteurs principaux Cher Joan Plowright Judi Dench Maggie Smith Lily Tomlin Charlie Lucas Baird Wallace Scénario John Mortimer Franco Zeffire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Un thé avec Mussolini — Données clés Titre original Tea with Mussolini Réalisation Franco Zeffirelli Scénario John Mortimer Franco Zeffirelli (autobiographie) Acteurs principaux Cher Joan Plowright …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lady Hester Random — (played by Maggie Smith) is a fictional character in Franco Zeffirelli s autobiographical film Tea with Mussolini . She is the snobbish, autocratic, small minded widow of the British Ambassador to Italy, a genuine member of the Old Money and… …   Wikipedia

  • Tea with Mussolini — Infobox Film name = Tea with Mussolini caption = Tea with Mussolini film poster director = Franco Zeffirelli producer = Clive Parsons Riccardo Tozzi Giovannella Zannoni Frederick Muller (uncredited) Executive Producer Marco Chimenz Associate… …   Wikipedia

  • Gran Caffé Doney — or Doney s was a cafeteria in Florence before World War II. It was originally located in the Palazzina Reale in the Cascine Park (XIX century), the moved on Via Tornabuoni, near the British Consulate. The Doney was particularly favoured by… …   Wikipedia

  • List of World War II topics (T) — # T 26 # T 27 # T 28 Super Heavy Tank # T 28 # T 34 variants # T 34 # T 35 # T 37 tank # T 38 tank # T 40 # T 43 tank # T 44 # T 50 tank # T 6 Texan variants # T 6 Texan # T 60 tank # T 70 # T G Building, Brisbane # T. E. Burridge # T. H. Jordan… …   Wikipedia

  • Corto Maltese — The first Corto Maltese adventure, Una ballata del mare salato, Italian publication cover. Corto Maltese is a comics series featuring an eponymous character, a complex sailor adventurer. It was created by Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt in… …   Wikipedia

  • Пратт, Хьюго — В Википедии есть статьи о других людях с такой фамилией, см. Пратт. Хьюго Пратт итал. Hugo Eugenio Pratt 1989 год …   Википедия

  • Hugo Pratt — Infobox Comics creator name = Hugo Pratt imagesize = 100 caption = birthname = Hugo Eugenio Pratt birthdate = birth date|1927|6|15|mf=y location = Rimini, Italy deathdate = death date and age|1995|8|20|1927|6|15 deathplace = Grandvaux,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”