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Luca Guadagnino is an Italian filmmaker best known for producing and directing the 2017 coming-of-age film Call Me by Your Name, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Also known for his contribution to the fashion industry, Guadagnino is credited with creating Frenesy, a production company that produces fashion films.
Giovanni Falcone was an Italian judge, who spent several years of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia. He studied law at the University of Palermo and had a brilliant career. He eventually became a prosecuting magistrate and was involved in a long legal battle with the Sicilian Mafia. He was assassinated in 1992.
Italian judge Paolo Borsellino is remembered for his lifelong struggle against the Sicilian Mafia. He, along with Giovanni Falcone, succeeded in convicting over 300 criminals during the Maxi Trial in 1986 and 1987. He was later killed in a car bomb attack that also killed five police officers.
Sergio Mattarella is an Italian politician, academic, jurist, and lawyer. He is the current president of the Italian Republic. Before becoming the president of Italy, Mattarella served as the Minister for Parliamentary Relations. He also served as the Minister of Public Education and as the Italian Minister of Defence.
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa was an Italian writer best remembered as the last Prince of Lampedusa. Tomasi is quite popular for his novel The Leopard which was published posthumously in 1958. His life and career inspired a docufilm titled Die Geburt des Leoparden which was directed by Luigi Falorni and screened at the 14th Rome Film Festival.
Natalia Ginzburg was an Italian author who dealt with sensitive subjects like politics and family relationships during the Second World War. Ginzburg's works were often translated into English for readers in the USA and the UK. Over the course of her illustrious career, Natalia Ginzburg won several prestigious awards, such as the Bagutta Prize and Strega Prize.
The queen of Spain and the wife of Spanish king Ferdinand VII, Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies also served as a regent to her daughter, Isabella, after Ferdinand’s death. She had previously made Ferdinand change the law of succession to let Isabella become the ruler instead of Ferdinand’s brother, Don Carlos.
Prime Minister of Italy from 1917 to 1919, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando resigned from his position when he failed to secure concession at the Versailles Peace Conference. However, he remained active in politics, initially supporting the new Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini. Later he opposed fascism, remaining in retirement until the end of WWII and was nominated Senator for Life shortly thereafter.
Constance, the queen of Sicily, avoided marriage till age 30 due to a prophecy. She later became the Holy Roman Empress, through her marriage to emperor Henry V, and gave birth to her only child, Frederick, at 40. Following Henry’s death, she successfully got her son crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor.
Gaetano Mosca was an Italian journalist, political scientist, and public servant. He developed the elite theory and is credited with co-founding the Italian school of elitism along with Robert Michels and Vilfredo Pareto. As a political journalist, Gaetano Mosca contributed immensely to popular Italian publications like the Corriere della Sera and the Tribuna.
Francesca Morvillo was an Italian magistrate. In 1992, Morvillo became the first and only woman magistrate to be assassinated in Italy; she was killed alongside her husband Giovanni Falcone by the Sicilian Mafia. Her funeral was aired live on national television and a day of mourning was declared by the Parliament.
Letizia Battaglia is an Italian photojournalist and photographer whose photos depict a wide range of Sicilian life. Battaglia is renowned for her influential work on the Sicilian Mafia. Her life and career inspired a 2019 documentary titled Shooting the Mafia. Over the course of her career, Letizia Battaglia has been honored with several awards like Dr. Erich Salomon Award.
Vincenzo Amato was the son of stage director and musician Emma Muzzi Loffredo. He has appeared in major roles in films such as Once We Were Strangers and Respiro. He is also a skilled painter and a talented iron sculptor. He is a polyglot and now stays in New York.
Giacomo Serpotta was an Italian sculptor who mainly worked in stucco. Historians believe that he was self-trained and had no direct exposure to the mainstream of Italian Baroque. He often collaborated with others, and his first major solo work is believed to be an equestrian statue cast of Charles II of Spain and Sicily.
