The tenacity of good

Since her youth Luciana Frassati (1902-2007) has opposed the difficulties of life with a tenacious, strong-willed, irreducible resistance.

Daughter of the Turin upper middle class - her father Alfredo, journalist and entrepreneur, is the co-founder of the newspaper La Stampa - she has always known, so to speak, that the privilege of wealth often does not correspond to her personal happiness. The very strict education she received from her does not allow Luciana and her older brother Pier Giorgio to enjoy family harmony. While he will find human warmth in friendship and among the poor, she devotes herself to her Polish husband Jan Gawronski. His diplomatic missions lead the couple to settle first in Vienna, then in Turkey, where Ataturk's regime is consolidating, finally in Poland. They will remain in Warsaw until the eve of the Second World War, in the days of the occupation of the country by Hitler.

In early September 1939, they flee together with their 4 children, two servants and a Jewish friend. Once rescued, the young, cultured, rich, beautiful Luciana could be satisfied with the admiration of the jet set but just like her brother Pier Giorgio she is inhabited by the search for justice aimed above all at the defense of the weakest. She does it in her own way: she exploits high-ranking friendships, without hesitation she contacts Nazi and fascist leaders, she is received several times by Mussolini and snatches permits and favors for those persecuted by the regime. After the war, she dedicated herself to the memory of her brother who died suddenly at the age of just 24 and it is thanks to the testimonies she collected from her that in 1990 Pier Giorgio finally became blessed.
Speaking of herself, Luciana once described herself as “an Italian woman in arms for freedom”.

An Italian, a woman who reflected in her life that "Frangar, non flectar" chosen by her father Alfredo as the motto of La Stampa, thus wanting to make clear from the outset the intention not to bow to anyone except the demands of justice. And Luciana evidently didn't really think about bowing down to bullies...

Anna Maria Gobbato
NP May 2023