Gaia Servadio Explained

Gaia Servadio
Birth Name:Gaia Cecilia Metella Servadio
Birth Date:13 September 1938
Birth Place:Padua, Italy
Death Place:Rome, Italy
Occupation:Writer
Spouse:William Mostyn-Owen (c. 1961–1989)
Hugh Myddelton (c. 1995-2021)
Children:3, including Allegra Mostyn-Owen

Gaia Cecilia Metella Servadio[1] (13 September 1938 – 20 August 2021) was an Italian writer.[2]

Early life and career

Servadio was born in Padua, the daughter of industrial chemist[3] Luxardo Servadio and wife Bianca Prinzi.[4] Her father was Jewish and her mother was Sicilian and Catholic.[5] She received a bachelor's degree from London's Camberwell School of Art.[4]

Her first novel Tanto gentile e tanto onesta, aka Melinda, was published in 1967 by Feltrinelli in Italy and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, and was "a runaway success".[4]

Personal life

Servadio was married to the British art historian William Mostyn-Owen c. 1961–1989, and they had three children, Owen (b. 1962), Allegra (b. 1964) and Orlando (b. 1973).[6] In 1968, they were living in "23 rooms or so" of one wing of Aberuchill Castle, Perthshire, Scotland.[7]

Their daughter Allegra, an art teacher, was the first wife of the politician Boris Johnson.[8] Their son Orlando is an artist and a painter.[9]

Servadio lived in Belgravia, London.[10] Following her divorce from Mostyn-Owen, in 1995 Servadio married Hugh Robert Myddelton, of Chirk Castle in Wales, another former Etonian.[11] In 2001 their surname was changed to Myddelton Biddulph, and they became Hugh Robert Myddelton Biddulph and Gaia Servadio Myddelton Biddulph.[12] They remained married until her death.[13] She died on 20 August 2021.[14] [15]

Works

Fiction

Music

Non-fiction

Curatorial

Notes and References

  1. The International Author's Who's Who, ed. Ernest Kay, Melrose Press Ltd, 1986, p. 799
  2. Burke's Landed Gentry 18th ed., vol. 2, ed. Peter Townend, 1969, p. 482
  3. News: Gaia Servadio obituary. 23 September 2023 . www.thetimes.co.uk.
  4. News: Andrew and Suzanne Edwards . From Designer to Journalist: An Interview with Gaia Servadio . Times of Sicily . 2013-02-16 . 2016-09-25.
  5. Book: Pugliese, Associate Professor of Modern European History Stanislao. The Most Ancient of Minorities: The Jews of Italy. 22 August 2002. Greenwood Press. 9780313318955. Google Books.
  6. News: Burton. Humphrey. William Mostyn-Owen obituary. The Guardian. 20 July 2011. 25 September 2016.
  7. Book: LIFE. registration. 21 September 2016. 7 June 1968. Time Inc. 83–84. 0024-3019.
  8. Web site: Helyer-Donaldson . Rachel . Boris Johnson's first wife marries again . Theweek.co.uk . 2010-01-08 . 2016-09-25 . 17 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160517103328/http://www.theweek.co.uk/entertainment/17457/boris-johnson%E2%80%99s-first-wife-marries-again . dead .
  9. Web site: Orlando Mostyn Owen The Royal Drawing School. The Royal Drawing School. 2018-06-04.
  10. Web site: Alain Elkann Interviews Gaia Servadio writer, historian and broadcaster . Alainelkanninterviews.com . 2015-05-27 . 25 September 2016.
  11. News: Gaia: A Celebration . 29 August 2022 . Italian Cultural Institute . 4 April 2022.
  12. Web site: Change of Name and/or Arms . The Gazette . 29 August 2022.
  13. evening standard 21 September 1994 article Neroli Lawson "English men are hopeless but i married two of them
  14. News: Gaia Servadio obituary. The Times. 21 August 2021. 21 August 2021.
  15. News: Morta la scrittrice Gaia Servadio, una vita tra romanzi, saggi e documentari . 20 August 2021 . Corriere della Sera . 20 August 2021. it.

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