Marchionni, Carlotta (1796-1861)

Marchionni, Carlotta

ACTOR, SINGER (ITALY)

BORN 16 Jun 1796, Pescia, Toscana - DIED 1 Feb 1861, Torino, Piemonte
GRAVE LOCATION Torino, Piemonte: Cimitero Monumentale, Corso Novara (A 49 (Ampliazone Primitivo Nicchione 213))

Carlotta Marchionni acted from an early age. Her mother Elisabetta Baldesi (d.1836) was an actress who directed the theatre company Compagnia Belloni-Meraviglia together with three others. Carlotta Marchionne joined the company. After she became its first actress and the company was later also referred to as Compagnia Marchionni.

When Silvio Pellico saw her during his stay in Milan (1810-1812) he was struck by her beauty and he wrote his own version of "Francesca da Rimini" for her. It was performed in 1815 in Milan and again in 1818. Pellico fell in love with her cousin Teresa 'Gegia' Marchionni and at the same time his friend Piero Maroncelli was courting Carlotta. Both were soon imprisoned for many years because of their patriotic activities.

Only in recent years it became known from the discovery of a series of letters that she had several relationships with men. In 1820 she started an affair with the Milanese nobleman and amateur actor Giulio Caponago. She had a brief relationship with the Egyptologist Ippolito Rosellini in 1824. In the 1830s she had a long relationship with the architect Rodolfo Vantini. He wanted her to end her career in order to marry him, but at the time she didn't want to do that.

The Marchionni Company dissolved in 1821 and after long negotiations she was contracted as lead actress in the Compagnia Reale Sarda and there she worked until she retired in 1840. In later years it was written that she proclaimed her words rather than she spoke them, which was not unusual at the time. She worked with the young Adelaide Ristori, who regarded her as an excellent teacher.

Related persons
• has a connection with Pellico, Silvio
• was teacher of Ristori, Adelaide

Images
The grave of Carlotta Marchionni at the Cimitero Monumentale, Turin. Picture by Androom (28 Feb 2014)	The grave of Carlotta Marchionni at the Cimitero Monumentale, Turin. Picture by Androom (28 Feb 2014)	Picture of Carlotta Marchionni at the Museo Risorgimento, Turin. Picture by Androom (28 Feb 2014)