{"id":631,"date":"2016-04-12T21:26:02","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T21:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/?page_id=631"},"modified":"2025-05-15T12:13:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:13:16","slug":"the-gigliucci-family","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/the-villa-rossa-archive\/the-gigliucci-family\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gigliucci Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Giovanni Battista Gigliucci was born in Fermo, Italy, in September 1815. Orphaned at the age of 19 months, Giovanni Battista was brought up by his paternal grandmother and tasked with taking care of the family estate from a young age. While studying law, he grew interested in politics and became an active supporter of the Italian Risorgimento. He lived to see his dream of a united Italy realized in 1861 and was elected to political office as senator soon after.<\/p>\n

Giovanni Battista passed on his passion for politics and a zealous sense of patriotism to his children and grandchildren. By marrying Clara Novella, an Englishwoman and renowned soprano singer, he lay the foundations for a social life which straddled English and Italian social circles in both Florence and London. Giovanni Battista and Clara’s sons, Giovanni and Mario, also married Englishwomen, two sisters, Charlotte and Edith Mozely.<\/p>\n

Both couples moved to Florence in the late 1870s where they would live for the rest of their lives. Mario and Edith had three children Nerina, Donatello, and Bona, all of whom were very active in Florentine society as well as in the arts and doing volunteer work. None had children, and, therefore, Mario’s branch of the family died out when his youngest daughter, Bona, passed away in February 1982.<\/p>\n

What follows is a brief overview of the Gigliucci family from the birth of Giovanni Battista to the death of his granddaughter, Bona.<\/p>\n

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Giovanni Battista Gigliucci and Clara Anastasia Novello<\/h2>\n

On 19 September 1815<\/strong>,\u00a0Giovanni Battista Gigliucci (1815-1893) was born in Fermo, Italy, into a family of nobility. Giovanni Battista was orphaned at the age of nineteen months and raised by his paternal grandmother. Before reaching the age of twenty, the young count was granted a\u00a0 sovereign decree declaring him of age to manage his family estates.<\/p>\n

On 10 June 1818,<\/strong>\u00a0Clara Anastasia Novello was born in London, England, to composer Vincenzo Novello and Mary Sabilla Hehl. A highly talented soprano singer, it was said that Clara’s sweet voice \u2018stirred such emotions as to move even the toughest souls.\u2019 At the age of eleven, Clara began her studies at the Institution Royale de Musique Classique et Religieuse in Paris, France.<\/p>\n

The Revolution of 1830<\/strong> in France cut Clara’s studies short causing her to return to England prematurely. Clara began to tour in Europe which led to monetary success and considerable notoriety due to her extraordinary voice (The Musical Quarterly referred to her as \u201cone of the greatest singers of her day.\u201d) During this time, Giovanni had enrolled at the university to study law and there he developed a lifelong passion for politics. Influenced by the\u00a0Risorgimento italiano–the political movement dedicated to creating a unified Italian state free from foreign domination–Giovanni established himself at the local and regional levels of government.<\/p>\n

On 22 November 1843,<\/strong> Giovanni Gigliucci and Clara Novello, who had met in Bologna during one of Clara’s tours, were married in Clara’s native city of London. Clara set her musical career aside and the two moved to Giovanni’s family estate in Fermo (Le Marche).<\/p>\n

Between 1844 and 1849<\/strong>, the couple had four children:<\/p>\n