Renato Floris writes:
"Was it true nobility? Many aficionados of Valentino ask me if
Rodolfo Valentino was really of noble descent and wonder whether the name and
title with which he registered on departure from Genoa as "Rodolfo
dei Marchesi Guglielmi", was a juvenile boast or a legitimate
claim. For many years we have been discussing noble yes or noble no.
The question has been resolved for some time now by the careful research of Aurelio Miccoli, research from which we obtained a podcast interview with him on the subject which is available on Youtube at the link:
(also see below)
In the end we can legitimately say that Rudolph Valentino could claim the titles, "of the Marquises of Valenzina and of the Counts of Antognolla", even if the correct spelling of those titles was, perhaps, lost in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean when on that fateful day in December 1913 , the young Rodolfo Guglielmi approached the land which would give him honors, fame and glory.
