L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2022 L'Italo-Americano M argherita , a n a m e truly fit for a q u e e n . In English, it translates to "daisy," the simplest but most popular flower. In the kitchen, it's the name of the queen of p i z z a s , t h e p i z z a M a r g h e r i t a . Before the pizza and, back in her days, more popular than daisies, w a s t h e s e c o n d q u e e n o f u n i f i e d I t a l y , R e g i n a Margherita di Savoia. Many of you may know s h e i s t h e n a m e s a k e o f Italy's most famous pizza, b u t s h e w a s m u c h m o r e than that. Born in Turin on the 20th of November 1851, Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna di Savoia – this was her full name – was the d a u g h t e r o f E l i z a b e t h o f Saxony and Ferdinando di Savoia, Duke of Genoa, the brother of Italy's first king, Vittorio Emanuele II. On the day of her christening, key figures of our Risorgimento, i n c l u d i n g M a s s i m o d ' A z e g l i o , C a m i l l o B e n s o count of Cavour and General L a M a r m o r a , s h a r e d h e r parents' joy. Margherita was bound to have a gilded childhood, the kind you would expect for a r o y a l , b u t e v e r y t h i n g changed when she was four and her father died. At ten, in 1861, her uncle Vittorio Emanuele became king of Italy, but dark clouds were a p p r o a c h i n g s l o w l y . H e r mother, Elizabeth of Saxony decided to remarry with a Ligurian nobleman, without asking the king for his per- mission, reason for which s h e a n d h e r f a m i l y w e r e ostracized and forced to live away from court, at Govone C a s t l e f i r s t , a n d S t r e s a Palace later. Indeed, Eliza- beth's second marriage did- n't only strain her relation- s h i p w i t h h e r f o r m e r b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , b u t a l s o w i t h h e r o w n d a u g h t e r Margherita, who apparently didn't like her stepfather very much. She focused on her edu- cation and manners so that she could grow to be an ade- quate duchess of the Italian k i n g d o m . T h a t s h e h a d potential, was obvious to everyone: even as a young teenager, she was bright, well-mannered and, by all accounts, beautiful, as many of her pictures show. W h e n h e r f i r s t c o u s i n and future king Umberto l o s t h i s f i a n c é e , M a t i l d e Habsurg-Teschen, in a trag- i c a c c i d e n t , t h e S a v o i a s picked her as his consort. Margherita was, in fact, on t h e c u s p o f b e c o m i n g e n g a g e d w i t h C h a r l e s , Prince of Romania, but of course, priority was given to the Italian crown. She mar- ried her first cousin on the 22nd of April 1868, when she was still 16 and he 23, in t h e G r a n M a d r e d i D i o c h u r c h i n T u r i n : t h e choice of their hometown w a s n o t o n l y a m a t t e r o f affection but also a way to bring the Piedmontese city back in the spotlight after it had lost its status of capital of Italy four years prior. The young couple, then, traveled across Italy, in a sort of promotional tour for t h e S a v o i a s , w h o s t i l l w e r e n ' t a c c e p t e d e v e r y - where: in Naples, for exam- ple, the nobility was still sid- ing with the Bourbons, but Margherita and Umberto still decided to move there, where their son, Vittorio Emanuele III, was born. The princess embraced her new role: aware of being the face and symbol of the royal family, she used her position, her intelligence, and natural elegance to gain t h e l o v e o f h e r s u b j e c t s . A n d , i n d e e d , e v e r y o n e w a r m e d t o h e r q u i c k l y . Before every official trip, she would learn about the customs of local women, and often dressed in the type of clothes they'd wear, instant- l y c r e a t i n g a b o n d w i t h them. When she moved to Naples with her husband, she even learned how to play mandolin, because she knew i t w a s s u c h a n i m p o r t a n t cultural symbol of the city. Margherita understood the importance of getting close to her people, and making sure they could identify in her: it was important for the House of Savoy, especially in those areas of the country where their presence was new. But she was also aware that, for the royal family, the support of the aristocracy was just as fundamental, so she used her skills and abili- ties to gain the confidence and trust even of those noble families who weren't keen on the Savoias' presence in t h e i r c i t y . P a r t i c u l a r l y important was the work she carried out in Rome, where s h e d e m o n s t r a t e d g r e a t diplomatic skills and savoir- f a i r e w i t h t h e s o - c a l l e d "black nobility," who still supported the pope after the annexation of the Eternal City to the kingdom. Q u e e n M a r g h e r i t a became an icon, so much so that, towards the end of the 19th century, a movement called margheritismo took the country by storm in a variety of social and cultural contexts, especially in fash- ion, as described by histori- an Luciano Regolo, who published a book dedicated t o h e r , M a r g h e r i t a d i S a v o i a , i S e g r e t i d i u n a R e g i n a , a l s o c i t e d i n a n i n t e r e s t i n g a r t i c l e t h a t appeared on Focus Storia in December 2019. But she was an important political player f o r C a s a S a v o i a , t o o : f o r instance, her figure was key to improving the relation- s h i p b e t w e e n t h e P a p a c y a n d t h e n e w l y a p p o i n t e d I t a l i a n R o y a l s , a f t e r t h e breccia di Porta Pia. S h e w a s a m u s e t o p o e t G i o s u é C a r d u c c i , Nobel prize for literature in 1 9 0 6 ; s h e w a s l o v e d by Giuseppe Garibaldi; she was an important fig- urehead of the Savoias fami- l y , w h o b r o u g h t t o g e t h e r intelligence and elegance, b e a u t y a n d d i p l o m a c y , e m p a t h y a n d r o y a l t y . Margherita was also a bit of a women's rights activist b a c k i n h e r d a y s , a s s h e firmly believed in women's emancipation. When she passed away, on the 4th of January 1926, in Bordighera, near the bor- d e r b e t w e e n I t a l y a n d France, the country cried tears of affection and sor- r o w : t h e t r a i n w h e r e s h e took her last trip to the capi- tal - where she still rests today, with other royals, in the Pantheon - had to stop 92 times to let her people say goodbye to her. She was, p e r h a p s , t h e f i r s t , r e a l "queen of people," a good c e n t u r y b e f o r e a n y o t h e r r o y a l i n t h e w o r l d c o u l d claim the same title. A portrait of Queen Margherita of Savoia, a beloved royal for many Italians (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons agreement. Author: www.fiammapizzacompany.com. License: Public Domain) Queen Margherita of Savoia: royally famous and royally loved CHIARA D'ALESSIO LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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