lady with a heart for Capri

Capri, Italy.

LADY WITH A HEART FOR CAPRI  by Anna Maria Boniello

My Nonna in her room in Capri.

Translated from Italian to English

The first time that the little Lucia, daughter of Raoul de Forcade Marquis and Marchioness de Biaix Tina, laid her eyes on Capri, she was just five years old. It was a different Capri in 1928, an era in the middle between the two World Wars, and the aristocratic family descended on the island as a place of choice to spend the free time, the holiday months, even in those that today would be called the "low season." The memories of Marquise Lucia (pictured), now ninety years old, they are perfect and shiny and well-preserved in her memory, where she recorded anecdotes of famous people and simple stories of the local people. "Our first house," begins to tell the Marquise de Forcade, "was Villa Weber. Few today know that it is not the beautiful building that houses a hotel, but a typical house from the local architectural lines at the beginning of the Two Gulfs, which has hosted over the years, having been the home of the philosopher-poet, the premises of the court and then the court. Then we moved to another house with the largest and most sumptuous Villa wall, in a bottom of Vuotto to Tiberius, owned by an English nobleman. The most vivid memory I have, however, was our landing in Capri. No pier, but fishermen welcomed passengers with their strong arms and their boats and took them to the ground. This was my first arrival to the island."

See the original story (written in Italian) here. You can also read a story by my grandmother about Curzio Malaparte that is written in English here. 

family stories: tina and raoul de forcade

My great-grandfather Raoul de Forcade was born in 1886 in Verona, Italy. He was raised in Naples, attended the University of Florence and spent a year in Vienna. He served as a calvary officer in the Italian army, and was dashing man who greatly enjoyed the bachelor lifestyle -- to be specific, my aunt mentioned he enjoyed duels and the company of opera dancers. His mother Adele nagged him to settle down and get married, but he ignored her pleas. 

My great-grandmother was born in 1901 and was one of nine children. She was a very well-rounded young lady who rode horses, played the piano and spoke French. She met my great-grandfather for the first time when she was 17 or 18 years old. She was riding with some friends when her horse shied and threw her. My great-grandfather saw her and went over to help. Instead of playing the part of the damsel in distress, she was angry and only wanted to get back on the horse. A few years later, she spent the day at the beach with the wife of a calvary colonel. They were excellent swimmers and decided to swim a long way from the shore. While they were swimming, a boat full of officers approached and asked if they needed help. They accepted the invitation to be pulled into the boat. Ironically, my great-grandfather was among them.

After their second meeting, Raoul started writing to Tina. Occasionally he introduced her to his mother at parties. His mother liked her very much, but she didn't approve of an engagement because my grandmother wasn't a member of the Italian aristocracy. Eventually, he resorted to extreme measures to win her approval -- he informed his mother that he wanted to marry one of his opera dancer girlfriends! Suddenly the lovely girl with an independent nature wasn't such a bad match after all, and his mother insisted that he reconsider the lovely Tina. They were married and moved to Verona. My grandmother arrived 10 and a half months later. She is in the bottom photograph.

family stories: adele and ernesto de forcade

My great-great-grandmother, Adele De Forcade.

This week I was lucky enough to interview my aunt and 91-year-old grandmother about our family. They told me several stories about my great-grandmother Tina, great-grandfather Raoul and my great-great-grandparents Ernesto and Adele.

Adele was born in Verona, Italy (home of Romeo and Juliet), married Ernesto De Forcade at 17 or 18, and had two children, Marie and my great-grandfather Raoul. 

Ernesto built railroads, and he was involved with the construction of the first railroad in Naples. The family moved to Naples during that period. When Raoul was eight, Ernesto traveled to Brazil to build a railroad, and he died suddenly.

Adele was still young, so she remarried. Her second husband was an attorney who spoke ten languages and travel extensively, even to the U.S., which wasn't very common at that time. He adored Adele and adopted Raoul. He purchased two apartments in Naples and a home on Capri for the family. These homes are still in our family to this day.

Adele died when my grandmother was four years old. Although her second husband was her senior, he died in 1936 when my grandmother was 16. My aunt described him as a bit of a health freak who chewed each bite of food 33 times. He also documented everything very thoroughly. My family live in the apartments that he purchased all of those years ago, and they have found boxes and boxes of his papers.

In the picture below, I see my father in Ernesto, his namesake, and I see my cousin Elena in Marie. Although my grandmother heavily favors her mother, I also see Adele in her features. 

Marie, Ernesto, Adele and Raoul De Forcade.