When
Rudolph Valentino was fifteen years old, he wrote a series of letters
to his friend Bruno. The letters were held for many years in the
private collection of William Self. When he passed away, the lot was
sold to collectors. While many in the Valentino world anxiously
awaited these collector's sharing of the content of these letters,
this did not take place. Instead, the lot was broken up with the
letters being sold individually in online auctions and before the
contents were widely shared. If someone was not aware they were for
sale because they did not regularly search online for current
auctions of Valentino memorabilia, they would never know these
letters were sold and for all intents and purposes... they had
completely vanished. The history of those rare, fragile and important letters was lost forever.
Fortunately
this was not the case when a letter to Bruno dated August 29, 1910,
was purchased by someone who knew me. They contacted me as soon as
they received the letter, forwarding images of the entire letter, the
envelope and the translation provided by the seller. I then decided I
would share this letter's content publicly to ensure it was read by
as many people as possible. I also decided my Italian linguist husband Renato should make a careful translation
of the letter himself. Today I share his translation as well as a
commentary and clarification.
The
seller provided the auction house with their translation and I assert
they censored one word and included instead a willfully
misleading change of content. I
address the line where Valentino writes,”faccio
l'amore, lasciandone una per pigliarne un'altra, con delle
signorine.”
This
meaning, “I make love with “signorine”, leaving one to take
another.”
In
the translation provided by the seller, they translate the
word“signorine” as “nice girls”.
Translating
the word “signorine” in this way is historically inaccurate. This
because the term was and still is used to describe prostitutes. Bear
in mind that I am not saying prostitutes are not “nice girls”
just saying this was and still is, a known slang used to describe
prostitutes.
In
this I cite the following:
Below,
I share an advertisement for a brothel in Rome, The Rinomata House of
Pleasure, the ad dated 1923, where the term “Signorine” is used.
Refer to the line reading, “Con due signorine insiema” This
is translated as “With two prostitutes together”- (which is
priced at twelve and a half lira). And noting that students and the
military receive discounts!
And
here a photo with the caption,
In
his letter to Bruno, Valentino uses the specific term, “faccio
l'amore”... a direct translation of this being, to have sex as in,
“to do the making of love”.. and with “signorine”.
In
researching the historical use of this word as meaning prostitutes,
Renato found the following insight into this topic. He writes:
In
reference to a piece by the Italian poet and writer Guido Ceronetti
about the so-called “Demi-monde”. The “Demi-monde”
refers to people who live hedonistic lifestyles, usually in a
flagrant and conspicuous manner. The term was commonly used in Europe
from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and
contemporary use has an anachronistic character. In
the letter Rodolfo wrote to his friend Bruno dated August 29, 1910,
he represents himself, in all respects, as being part of that
“Demi-monde”. I excerpt the following from a commentary on this
by Guido Ceronetti:
“But
I still harbor a certain decadent nostalgia, for that innocent little
world of an era gone by when there were some "good things of bad
taste"; when the "bad signorine" were called
"cocottes".”
“Cocotte”
is a French word which means prostitute. In Italy the reason for the
slang term of “Signorine” was that it was morally unthinkable
that a married woman could work as a prostitute. All prostitutes
were, by default, labeled as being single, as “signorine” and
thereby the men, as their customers felt less guilty paying for sex
with unmarried women.
Another
Italian poet, Guido Gozzano, in one of his poems titled “Cocotte”,
writes;
"A
cocotte! …"
"What
does it mean, Mommy?"
"It
means a bad “signorina!”
Was
the word, this well-known slang for prostitutes, “signorine”..changed
to “nice girls” purposefully by the seller of the letter to
delete the fact that at fifteen years old, Valentino was already
having sex with women and many women? I make the allegation that this
is so. Why was this letter “offed” and sold into oblivion before
it was published widely among the Valentino community? Why change his
truth? Why censor and edit his words? So by some quirk of fate a
friend of mine bought that letter and now I share it as it
should have been previous to its vanishing.
But
beyond this, it is incredible to be able to read his handwriting and
sentiments shared with his friend; we see a young Valentino so full
of life plans and thrilled with three packs of new, foreign
cigarettes and his love-making! We see a young Valentino entranced with the military life
and hoping to get into journalism. This is history. This is a
treasure to be shared and not something to sell online like a
tablecloth or a set of book ends. I thank the buyer of this valuable
letter for having the awareness that this letter should be shared!
Thank you.
For
the record, Renato's entire translation of this letter is as follows:
Taranto
29, August 1910
Dear
Bruno,
I
couldn't write to you this morning because I was aboard the R.N. (the
Royal Ship) "Benedetto Brin", to meet up with the
Sub-Lieutenant Della Rocca, the son of our business mathematics
professor whom I met in Taranto a couple of months ago at the
"Marconi" cabaret variety club and so I stayed with him for
lunch.
You
know that now the naval squadron that comes from Antivari is in
Taranto, tomorrow Wednesday 30, they will
leave for Venice, and around the 11th there will
be all three squadrons with the coming of the king to Taranto. From
Mr. Della Rocca I got three packs of foreign cigarettes that were
given to him by King Nicholas of Montenegro. Fortunately, cases of
cholera in Trani and Barletta have been limited and there have been
none. So no worries. I wrote right
now that it is 5:15 (PM) on the way back from the ship. If you
saw how kind the Navy officers are. Then I was introduced to the
Commander in 2nd of Brin who is a very kind person.
As
for my life, I don't do anything and I consume money and I'm bored
and that's why I ask you for the addresses of the newspapers because
I want to give myself to journalism. Could you ask your relatives in
Padua for the addresses of some other newspapers, but not local. You
would do me a great pleasure.
Not
long ago, a 17-year-old cabaret singer was in Taranto and I had a
great time with her. Then, while I am courting cabaret singers, I
make love with prostitutes, leaving one to take another.
Give
my compliments to Manlio for the race he has won and I wish for him
that in the next race he will take not the 6th prize but the 1st. Do
you know if Sinigaglia is still in Castelfidardo? If you go to Venice
in a few days you will see the naval squadron. If you want a
presentation note for Mr. Della Rocca, tell me and I will send it to
you. He is holed up now on the squadron's flagship Benedetto Brin,
since a boiler exploded aboard the previous flagship Regina
Margherita, a few knots from Taranto, and 7 sailors died. So the
admiral (of the squadron) who was there before will pass tomorrow or
tonight on the Benedetto Brin.
Hi!
And a kiss from yours,
Rodolfo.
P.S.
Write to me soon and send me those addresses.
