Talk:Luciana Arrighi/Archive 1

Archive 1

Nationality

This says she was born in Australia and raised there and in various international locales, including the French Riviera and the Far East.

IMDb says she was born in Brazil in 1940

Her own site says she is is the daughter of an Italian diplomat and Australian mother and educated world-wide, but doesn’t say where or when she was born. She does not describe herself as Italian, Australian, or anything else. She divides her time between the UK and France.

If it's true she was born in Australia, that would probaby have made her a British subject, but maybe her father's diplomatic status meant she was an Italian citizen only. Australia was at war with Italy in 1940, so I'm not sure he would have been officially accredited by Canberra.

Any clues about this? -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 20:29, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

I've been browsing David Marr's biography of Patrick White (Patrick White: A Life), and there's a lot there about Luciana Arrighi. Firstly, her mother (née Eleanor "Nellie" Cox) was a "cousin" of Patrick White's. If that's to be interpreted as "first cousin", then Luciana would be his first cousin once removed. But Marr also describes Luciana as a "cousin", so I dunno exactly.

Anyway, the story is that Nellie hailed from Mudgee. She went to Sydney, became a showgirl for J C Williamsons for a while, then a mannequin for Schiaparelli. In Paris she met an Italian diplomat, Count Ernesto Arrighi, and married him. Luciana was born in Rio de Janeiro, and her sister Nike was born in Nice, France. When Italy capitulated to the Germans in WW2, Count Arrighi was captured and treated very badly. After the war he was posted to Australia. Nellie and the 2 girls went on ahead, but he died very suddenly before he could join them. Luciana grew up in Australia, and had a great deal to do with her "cousin" Patrick. Since her international career took off, she's apparently preferred to consider herself a woman of the world. Nellie Arrighi relocated to Rome, she became well known in cultural circles there, she was often visited by White and his partner Manoly, and she died there. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 22:56, 16 September 2012 (UTC)