Clarita Vidal Explained

Clarita Vidal
Other Names:	Comtesse de Gaaverda^[1] Mme. Daisy Mazzuchi Countess Chiquita Mazzuchi Chick Mazzuchi
Birth Date:	20 January 1883
Occupation:	Actress
Spouse:	Lord Seymour
Children:	1

Clarita Vidal (20 January 1883 – 17 June 1919) was an actress in Edwardian musical comedies, later known for her wartime work in Italy as Countess Chiquita Mazzuchi.

Early life

Vidal's origins were unclear, even to herself. "I really don't know what my nationality is," she confessed to a reporter in 1901.^[2] She said she was born in Singapore, the daughter of a Spanish ambassador and an Englishwoman.^[3] Elsewhere she was described as a native of the "Sunny South", raised in Spanish diplomatic circles in Algiers,^[4] possibly as Chiquita Saavedra de Cervantes.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Career

Vidal was a Florodora girl, and counted among the "beauties" of the stage.^[8] Her Broadway appearances included roles in The Silver Slipper (1902-1903)^[9] and Cynthia (1903). In London, she was seen in The New Regime (1903), The School Girl (1903), and His Highness, My Husband (1904).^[10] "All the beauties of the day were in The School Girl," recalled actress Billie Burke. "I remember Clarita Vidal, famous and smick-smack, who posed as if she were made of wax, with just one expression of sheer beauty."^[11]

She married in 1909 and left the stage, but reappeared in the news by late 1915^[12] as "Mme. Daisy Mazzuchi"^[13] or "Countess Chiquita 'Chick' Mazzuchi",^[14] working as a nurse at Latisana, or an ambulance driver,^[15] or both,^[16] during World War I.^{[17] [18]} In 1917 she was a speaker at war relief fundraisers in New York,^[19] telling of wounds she received (including a bullet^[20]) in her work in Italy.^[21]

Her use of the title "Countess" was criticized by the Italian consul in Chicago,^[22] and her speeches were found to contain "grossly exaggerated" claims of her nursing experiences in the war zone.^[23] She agreed to stop speaking or collecting money for war relief^[24] when New York district attorney Edward Swann inquired about her work.^{[25] [26] [27]}

Personal life

She married her first husband, an Englishman called Lord Seymour,^[28] when she was sixteen; he was killed on their honeymoon in South Africa. She married E. G. Mazzuchi in 1909. She had a daughter named Rita. She divorced her second husband before 1918.

External links

• • A 1904 postcard portrait of Clarita Vidal, in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery (UK).
• A 1918 news photo of "Countess Mazzuchi" raising money for the American Red Cross, in the collection of the Library of Congress.
• The 1915 Italian passport of "Chick Mazzuchi", in nurse's uniform; in the collection of the Library of Congress.
• "Chick Mazzuchi driving an ambulance in France", a photograph in the collection of the Library of Congress.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality. 1909.
2. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23756499/clarita_vidal_1901/ "Recruiting the Ranks of the Famous Florodora Sextette"
3. United States Congress, Senate Committee on Military Affairs, Regulating Collection of Money: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs (U.S. Government Printing Office 1919): 23-24.
4. https://books.google.com/books?id=7nBEAQAAMAAJ&dq=Clarita+Vidal&pg=PA483 "Clarita Vidal"
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=GDpIAQAAMAAJ&dq=Clarita+Vidal&pg=PA389 "To be Married To-Morrow"
6. Jack Drouillard, "Sister Chick, in Trenches since 1914, Decorated Twice for Bravery" Evening World (May 21, 1918): 16. via Newspapers.com
7. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23768569/chiquita_mazzuchiclarita_vidal_1917/ "Countess Gives War Talk Here"
8. Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen 2d., "Beauty in the Modern Chorus" Cosmopolitan (March 1903): 494.
9. Leslie Stuart, Owen Hall, W. H. Risque, The Silver Slipper: A Musical Comedy (T. B. Harms 1901).
10. J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (Scarecrow Press 2013): 140, 149, 201.
11. Billie Burke, With a Feather on my Nose (Pickle Partners Publishing 2015).
12. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23767603/clarita_vidalchiquita_mazzuchi_1915/ "Wounded Soldiers Nursed in Cellars"
13. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23768336/chiquita_mazzuchiclarita_vidal_1916/ "Sails for War Zone with Ambulances"
14. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23758677/clarita_vidalchiquita_mazzuchi_1917/ "Sister Chick the White Devil of Rheims"
15. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=RDP19170718.2.105 "Italy's First Woman Ambulance Driver Here Seeking Aid"
16. https://books.google.com/books?id=N8MNAQAAMAAJ&dq=Chick+Mazzuchi&pg=RA5-PA3 "Shell-Torn Wounded Tended Under Fire by Woman Nurse and Hospital Organizer on Italian Front"
17. "Soldiers Worship 'Chick'" Traralgon Record (August 9, 1918): 6. via Trove
18. "Italian Nurse Hurt in Aeroplane Raid" The New York Times (August 20, 1916): 14. via ProQuest
19. Chloe Arnold, "Mrs. Mazzuchi's Work in War Inspiring to Women Throughout the World" The Sun (January 13, 1918): 43. via Newspapers.com
20. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23778656/chick_mazzuchi_1917/ "Table Gossip"
21. https://books.google.com/books?id=OjkyAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Countess+Mazzuchi%22&pg=PA97 "Representatives Hear War Speakers"
22. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23757734/clarita_vidalchiquita_mazzuchi_1917/ "'Angel of Marne' Doffs Halo to Swear Vendetta"
23. http://digital.chipublib.org/digital/collection/examiner/id/92368 "Woman's Title False, Italian Consul Says"
24. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23768762/chiquita_mazzuchiclarita_vidal_1918/ "'Countess' Ordered to End 'War Fund'"
25. "Swann Summons Countess" The New York Times (June 23, 1918): 14. via ProQuest
26. "Countess Quits War Work" The New York Times (August 3, 1918): 16. via ProQuest
27. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23758069/chiquita_mazzuchi_1918/ "Wiping Out the War Charity Profiteers and Wasters"
28. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23758278/clarita_vidalchiquita_mazzuchi_1917/ "Italian Countess from War Zone to Make Talk Here"