Italy and national traits the people inhabiting it have always attracted the attention of many famous people in different times. They formulated their impressions of the Apennines briefly, succinctly and with a fair amount of humor. Their statements have survived to this day, allowing us to determine the degree to which these aphorisms correspond to the truth.

First, let's give the floor to the classics - Mark Twain has always been known as a fair joker and cynic. With Italy, he had his own scores - once he made a long voyage through the Apennines and expressed all his impressions in a number of very talented and witty comments. In addition to his famous catchphrase "God created Italy according to the plan of Michelangelo", he treated the piety of the Italians with great irony. “They showed me pieces of the Holy Cross in every church, and the nails with which Christ was crucified were taken from a barrel. And from the bones of St. Dionysius could collect his skeleton in two copies…” – this is how Twain described his visit to the South of Italy. The final chord was the characterization of the entire Italian people: “There is nothing worthy, respectable, intelligent, brilliant in them - but peace reigns in their souls all their lives, surpassing all understanding!”

Our famous compatriots also did not stand aside - N.V. Gogol wrote: “Whoever was in Italy will say “forgive me” to other countries. He who has been in heaven will not want to come to earth.” But the famous commander Count A.V. Suvorov put it this way about the Italian ability to wage war - “There is no land in the world that would be so dotted with fortresses like Italy. And there is also no land that has been so often conquered.

Many aphorisms in an ironic vein were uttered by the Italians themselves. The famous Italian film actor, the dream of all the fair sex, Marcello Mastroianni, spoke rather caustically about the stereotype of the Italian "macho": "The Italian does not have sex, he just talks a lot about him." Italian writer L. Crecenzo, wanting to emphasize the Italian recklessness and love of life, said: "The Swiss city of Bern is five times larger than the cemetery in Naples, but the cemetery in Naples is five times more fun than in the Swiss city of Bern."

Let's give the floor to the celebrities of our time. Famous American actor and director Orson Welles, in his review of one of the Italian films, wrote: "Italy is a country where all the inhabitants are actors, and the worst of them play in the theater and in the cinema." But he later returned the favor, admitting: “Italy knew bloody wars and death, but gave birth to Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. Switzerland, on the other hand, flourished for five hundred years in peace and tranquility, and gave the world only a cuckoo clock. "But the French actress Catherine Deneuve described it this way culinary habits inhabitants of the Apennines: “Italians have only two thoughts in their heads. The last one is spaghetti."

There are still plenty of aphorisms about Italy and Italians, but the general result can be considered the phrase of one of the comedians: “Why does the geography teacher say in all schools that Italy is like a boot? She herself looks like a boot, and Italy looks like paradise!

When people imagine or talk about Italy, they undoubtedly see in their imagination not only the gold of the Vatican and the canvases famous masters renaissance brushes. They also see faces. Faces of people who glorified their great country.

Famous contemporaries

Our contemporaries most likely remember big smile and the inexhaustible, powerful, charismatic energy of the Italian actor Andriano Celentano or the sly, inviting gaze beautiful eyes Italian Sophia Loren, promising to reveal the secret of love.

Many have not forgotten the black and white world of Federico Fellini's films, but someone will say that Italy is, first of all, strict style Briony, in costumes from which agent 007 James Bond has been flaunting for decades. Someone will exclaim: “But what about Marconi? What would we be doing now without radio, if not for this Italian?

Celebrities who came from the depths of centuries

And someone might want to look into the deep well of the mirror of time to see, shrouded in a haze of the past, the faces of Catherine and Marie de Medici, the two greatest Florentines anointed to the kingdom in the Kingdom of France. Someone will see the flames in which, without uttering a sound, he gave his immortal soul Giordano Bruno. And someone, peering into the starry sky, hoping to see at least a falling meteor out of the corner of his eye, will remember the name of Galileo Galilei.

When we talk about the culture of Italy, about its contribution to the development of human civilization, we always, first of all, talk about celebrities in Italy, people who created history itself. Art is never faceless. Country without the greatest people nameless.

But you can go down in history not only thanks to exploits, like Julius Caesar or Mark Antony. Not only the greatest humanists, such as Marcus Aurelius, she remembers. To be a great person, you need to have talent. And this may not necessarily be a calling to be a painter or sculptor, it is not necessarily a talent to hear in heavenly spheres music, in order to record and reproduce its melodies on earth later.

Italy - the cradle of talents

Talent is not always the possession of a beautiful voice or the ability to easily weave words into coherent story. Talent can also be expressed simply in an inexhaustible thirst for life, in love for it, for its joys.

Celebrities whose names have become household names

Talented love of life is also an art. And it was with this talent that the gentlest heartthrob, the Italian Giacomo Casanova, glorified his name in the centuries. His name has become a household name for all unfaithful lovers.

Along with Casanova, the name of another Italian who lived in Renaissance Florence, Nicolo Machiavelli, became a household name. now the name of this diplomat and philosopher, the author of the work "The Sovereign" is a synonym for the word "sly". There is even such a thing as Machiavellianism, which means deceit.

Talent is multifaceted, it has many faces.

Another great Italian, Giuseppe Balsamo, the whole world remembers as Alexander Cagliostro. Some consider him the greatest charlatan and deceiver that history has not yet known. Others believe that he actually mastered secret knowledge and invented the elixir of immortality. And still others believe that this elixir was invented by Apollonius of Tyana, and it was he who appeared in the eighteenth century in the guise of Alexander Cagliostro. After all, if he really is immortal, what did it cost him to live for almost two thousand years?

They say that one day two respectable gentlemen decided to ask the drunk servant Cagliostro, is it true, they say, that his master is immortal. The Lord hoped that everyone famous saying about the fact that a drunkard always has only what is on his mind on his tongue, which will slightly open the veil of secrecy to them. To the question, the drunken servant replied that he did not know for sure whether his master was immortal, but over the 130 years that he served him, his master, Count Cagliostro, had not changed at all.

Talents that make people famous can be talked about incessantly. And one should, no doubt, thank the Lord for the enchanting generosity of the gifts with which he showered Italy.

• Celebrities of the XX-XXI centuries
• Celebrities of past centuries

In the very heart of Tuscany, a marvelous beauty with an indomitable, freedom-loving disposition is languidly located - Florence. Florence, like no other mother in the world, can be proud of her true sons... da Vinci and Botticelli, Michelangelo and Petrarch, Machiavelli and the Medici...

Antonio Pisanello: portrait of a woman

On the life of Antonio Pisanello, major artist Northern Italy in the first half of the 15th century, a painter, draftsman and medalist, only scarce information has survived. It is known that his father was from Pisa (hence Pisanello - a little Pisan). His name appears for the first time in his father's will, drawn up in Verona.

Leonardo da Vinci: the universal genius

Leonardo da Vinci - italian genius era High Renaissance whose name is known in every corner of the world. His works of art technical achievements and inventions have long taken pride of place in world science and culture.

Lorenzo Medici Fabulous

Oh Florence! Truly, you are the very city that is able to realize all the desires of a person with which he is filled from a child's cradle to his deathbed. Florence, impregnated with the spirit of audacity and free-thinking, free from religious dogmas and pernicious influence Rome, smelling of marvelous spices of Arabia and India: pepper, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, for salt and honey, eternal spices from the day of the creation of the world, no longer satisfy her exquisite taste.

Secondo Pia - personal photographer of Jesus Christ?

Could a simple Italian boy from Asti, in Piedmont, know that he would become famous all over the world by taking just two pictures, one of which, unfortunately, would be unsuccessful? Could he have imagined that he would enter world history, as the first person to receive a photograph of Jesus Christ himself? Probably not. However, it should be noted that the future historian and photographer from childhood did not suffer from a lack of vanity, because in his dreams he was always carried away “above the heights of the clouds”

Michelangelo Buonarroti - the true son of Florence and the whole Earth

It was 1564 from the Nativity of Christ... Just two days ago, in the throne room, Pope Pius the Fourth removed Baccio Biggio from construction work in St. Peter's Basilica, recognizing his slander, oh sorry, his secret report on Buonarroti, rigged and full of malicious envy.

Already after the meeting, when Michelangelo polished with pumice, and then with gray and straw, the statue of Jesus, giving long legs Savior of flawless satin smoothness, the words of the Pope did not stop ringing in his ears. The old sculptor was especially proud of the part of the speech that said that he (Michelangelo) had only one holy goal - to build the greatest cathedral in the world, which would be built exactly according to the Buonarroti project and changedb, its even in the slightest detail, is prohibited.

What do you know about Italy? The country is like a boot from a bird's eye view. It's true. It is also the birthplace of pizza and pasta. Undoubtedly. And of course we all know that there is a famous falling leaning tower of pisa and the capital of Italy is Rome. This is, of course, all public knowledge. data. But in this article we would like to highlight more rare and informative Interesting Facts about Italy.

• Word Italy comes from the similar word "Italia". This word is translated as calf land».

Vatican aerial view

• Italy has two separate independent States- San Marino and the Vatican.

• The most high mountain throughout Europe is located in Italy. This is Monte Bianco. Its height is almost 5 km, namely 4807 meters.

• Also in Italy is the most a large number of volcanoes throughout Europe, among which are the famous Vesuvius and Etna.

• Over 150,000 students study at the University of Rome every year. This is a record number of simultaneously studying students in one university for Europe.

• For Italians, it is considered bad form if ketchup is added to pizza or pasta as a “dressing”.

• In Italy, there are many names that are characteristic of some certain city and are not found anywhere else. And many Italians adhere to the tradition of naming their children by the names adopted in their area.

• In Italian cinemas, it is customary to cut off the film in the middle and take a five-minute break so that you can, for example, go to the toilet or something.

• There are no dormitories in Italian universities, students are forced to rent housing themselves.

• Piano in Italian sounds like "Pianoforte", i.e. vice versa. And this tool was invented Italian master Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1709.

• IN different regions In Italy, people can speak different dialects of the same language and sometimes not even understand each other.

• Italy has one of the longest life expectancies. For men, it is 74 years, and for women, 81.

• All Italian words always end in a vowel, as do italian surnames. Only surnames depend on the region. Northern Italians have an 'i' surname, while Southern Italians have an 'o'.

• Italy is a very touristic country and a large part of the income comes from tourism business. The country is one of the five most touristic countries in the world.

• The popular dessert Tiramisu was invented in Italy in the 70s of the XX century, but it is still unknown who is the author of this yummy, since the authorship is still disputed.

Famous people Italy

Artists- Michelangelo, Raphael Santi, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci

actors- Adriano Celentano, Monica Bellucci, Isabella Rossellini, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni.

Composers and musicians- Vivaldi, Atonio Salieri, Stradivari, Nicolo Paganini, Galileo Galilei, Luciano Pavorotti

Designers- Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Domenico Dolce, Roberto Cavalli, Stefano Gabbana

And also Federico Fellini, Amerigo Vespucci, Marco Polo, Gianni Rodari and many others.

Famous Italian cars

Lamborghini, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Fiat

famous italian food

Pizza, pasta (pasta), ravioli (dumplings), risotto (rice), lasagne, tiramisu (dessert), espresso and cappuccino (coffee).

By your numerous requests, I continue to compile the tops of famous movie figures different countries. This time I want to offer you the top 30 most famous Italian actresses.
As before, I will not talk about their age and, as before, I will not put them in their places, the numbers are just for order. They are all wonderful! Enjoy! :)

1. Sophia Loren, the first film in 1948, with a total of 91 film roles. I was in love with this woman Soviet Union. Incredibly beautiful and charismatic actress and also the most titled in Italian cinema. She won an Oscar for Best female role and this was the first time that the award in this category was given for a film not shot on English language. Subsequently, she was nominated for it again and twice for the Golden Globe. She also has prizes at the Cannes, Venice and Moscow film festivals. But she has another unique achievement. She was awarded almost all the major honorary prizes for her contribution to world cinema, namely the Oscar, the Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival), the Silver Saint George (Moscow Film Festival), the Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival), as well as honorary "Cesar" (the main cinematographic award of France). Only Cannes remained, but I think she will receive an honorary prize there too. The Archbishop of Genoa once joked that although the Vatican generally does not approve of human cloning, he could make an exception for Sophia Loren.

2. Anna Magnani, the first film in 1928, 49 film roles in total. One of the greatest Italian actresses. Playwright Tennessee Williams wrote the play The Rose Tattoo for her. For the film based on this play, she received an Oscar and a Golden Globe. She also has the main prizes of the Venice and Berlin film festivals for the best female role. There is a star named after her on the Hollywood Walk of Stars.

3. Alida Valli, the first film in 1934, with a total of 116 film roles. She participated in the films of almost all the great Italian directors: Visconti, Bertolucci, Pasolini, Argento, Antonioni. At the Venice Film Festival in 1997, the actress was awarded the honorary Golden Lion for her many years of film career.

4. Francesca Bertini, the first film in 1907, with a total of 142 film roles. She became famous in silent films (more than 100 roles), but managed to appear in sound films, including the famous "Twentieth Century" by Bertolucci.

5. Gina Lollobrigida, the first film in 1946, a total of 65 film roles. One of the most beautiful actresses in the world. Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Actress. She was awarded the Legion of Honor personally from the hands of Francois Mitterrand. In the 1970s, Gina's career began to decline and almost ended in 1973 with her participation in the film Deadly Sin. After that, over the following decades, she appeared in only a couple of films and accepted television offers several times. During this time, Gina turned to photojournalism and the celebrities she photographed included Paul Newman, Salvador Dali, Fidel Castro, and the German national football team. In 1973, her work was published in the magazine Italia Mia.

6. Lucia Bose, the first film in 1950, with a total of 54 film roles. She starred a lot at the beginning of her career and probably would have become a world famous actress, but in 1956 she married a bullfighter and devoted herself to her family and almost stopped acting. But still she managed to star in De Santis, Antonioni, Cocteau, Fellini.

7. Tina Pica, the first film in 1916, a total of 66 film roles. This is the Italian Tatyana Pelzer. She became famous already in her old age, but still the audience managed to remember her image.

8 Claudia Cardinale, the first film in 1958, with a total of 104 film roles. Another great and famous italian beauty. One of the favorite actresses of Visconti, who spoke for the first time with her voice from the screen at Fellini and refused reciprocity to Alain Delon and Marlon Brando. Real star.

9. Stefania Sandrelli, the first film in 1961. a total of 113 film roles. Star of Bernardo Bertolucci's cult films The Conformist and The Twentieth Century. Beginnings acting career how simple beautiful girl, In the middle of her career, she played in a frank film by Tinto Brass "Key" but was able to become a very serious actress.

10 Monica Bellucci, the first film in 1990, a total of 52 film roles. Although many consider it French actress She is still Italian. I will definitely not be mistaken if I say that this is the most popular Italian actress on this moment. And one of the most beautiful actresses in all of world cinema. I think it makes no sense to write a lot of words about her :)

11. Giulietta Masina (real name - Giulia Anna Masina), the first film in 1946, a total of 31 film roles. Wife and beloved actress Federico Fellini. He also made Juliet out of modest Julia. In his films, all of Italy fell in love with her, and then the whole world. "Road", "Nights of Cabiria", "Juliet and the Spirits"

12. Silvana Mangano, the first film in 1945, a total of 35 film roles. Wife famous producer Dino De Laurentiis, favorite actress of Visconti and Pasalini.

13. Monica Vitti (real name - Maria Louisa Ceciarelli), the first film in 1954, 55 film roles in total. Her roles in Antonioni's films made her famous, and the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival brought her role in Flirt, the debut film of her future husband Roberto Russo.

14. Mariangela Melato, the first film in 1970, a total of 60 film roles. one of the most popular European actresses of the 70s. The success of the actress brought the role - Lydia in the political drama of Elio Petri "The working class goes to paradise"

15. Ornella Muti (Ornella Muti, real name - Francesca Romana Rivelli), the first film in 1970, with a total of 103 film roles. Fantastic beauty. She is best known to domestic viewers for her roles in the comedies The Stealing of the Restless and Madly in Love, where her partner was Adriano Celentano, with whom she had an affair. She also starred in the joint Soviet-Italian film "Life is Beautiful" with Soviet director Chukhrai.

16. Asia Argento (Asia Argento), the first film in 1985, a total of 49 film roles. Daughter famous director Dario Argento: "I always dreamed that one day I could make a film in Russia. Even my daughter Russian name- Asya. I gave her this name in honor of the Russian poetess Tsvetaeva." - the director once said in an interview. Participated in famous movie"Queen Margo" by Patrice Chereau and made a film with Marilyn Manson. Very talented actress and director, but at the same time a well-known brawler. I think she will show herself.

17. Laura Morante, the first film in 1978, a total of 78 film roles. In the second half of the 1980s, she became one of the leading actresses in Italian cinema. One of the most popular and sought-after actresses of Italian cinema in the 1990s-2000s.

18. Giovanna Mezzogiorno, the first film in 1997, a total of 31 film roles. Rising star Italian cinema. Daughter of actor Vittorio Mezzogiorno (David Licata's investigator from the TV series The Octopus). Fame brought her the main role in the film "Love in the Time of Cholera", where her partner was Javier Bardem. Think real glory she still has a long way to go.

19. Virna Lisi, the first film in 1953, with a total of 94 film roles. She is well known to the domestic audience for her leading role in adventure movie"Black Tulip", where Alain Delon was her partner. But her triumphant role was Catherine de Medici in the controversial film Queen Margot, for which she received the Palme d'Or for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and the Cesar Award.

20. Valeria Golino, the first film in 1984, with a total of 73 film roles. Most viewers will remember her for her lead role in Rain Man, and many will have noticed her in a supporting role in Frida. In 1986, she received the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actress for Love Story.

21. Luciana Paluzzi, the first film in 1953, a total of 74 film roles. The first Italian actress who became a Bond girl (the film "Thunderball"), however, not the main one.

22. Isabella Rossellini, the first film in 1976, a total of 70 film roles. famous daughter, famous parents directed by Roberto Rossellini and actress Ingrid Bergman. Favorite actress of David Lynch, in whom she played her most famous role in "Blue Velvet"

23. Carla Del Poggio, the first film in 1940, a total of 30 film roles. She made her debut in the lead role in the drama Maddalena, Zero for Conduct by Vittorio de Sica. In 1945 she married the famous film director Alberto Lattuada, in whose films she performed her most famous roles.

24. Sandra Milo, the first film in 1955, a total of 49 film roles. Fame brought her roles in the films "8 and a half" and "Cinderella 80". Sandro Milo naturally has a high falsetto - it was bright hallmark her kino image of a sexy blonde temptress.

25. Caterina Murino, the first film in 2000, a total of 28 film roles. Rising star. Fame brought her the main role in the French comedy "The Corsican". And a few years later, she became a Bond girl in the movie "Casino Royale", although her heroine did not live to the end of the film :)

26. Marina Berti (Marina Berti, real name Elena Moreen Bertolini), the first film in 1941, a total of 77 film roles. Very beautiful actress, who became popular for her roles in the historical films "Kamo are coming" and "Ben Hur".

27. Milena Vukotic, the first film in 1960, a total of 97 film roles. She played many roles, mostly supporting roles with famous directors, including Tarkovsky in Nostalgia, as well as Fellini, Buñuel and others.

28. Nicoletta Braschi, the first film in 1983, a total of 18 film roles. Wife of director and actor Roberto Benigni. The lead role in her husband's film "Life is Beautiful" made her famous. She also starred with Jim Jarmusch and Bernardo Bertolucci.

29. Pier Angeli (real name Anna Maria Pierangeli), the first film in 1950, with a total of 33 film roles. A year after her debut in Italian cinema, she was invited to leading role V Hollywood movie"Theresa". For her role in this film, Pier Angeli was awarded the Golden Globe Award in the Most Promising Newcomer nomination, as well as high marks from film critics who compared her with Greta Garbo.

30. Marisa Pavan, the first film in 1948, a total of 37 film roles. Success came to her in 1955 after her role in the film Rose Tattoo. The role of Rosa, the daughter of Anna Magnani's character, earned Marisa an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.