Home > Stories > Remembering Berenson > Life at the Villa in the 30's and 40's

Fiorella Gioffredi Superbi was born on the I Tatti estate and has some very early memories, below, of Mary Berenson in the 1930’s, and of how the Second World War affected life at the Villa when BB went into hiding at another Villa nearby. As the war ended life returned to normal fairly quickly and the young art historian Luisa Vertova, taken on by Berenson to help with his research , remembers those post-war years.

Fiorella Superbi Gioffredi	A child at I Tatti in the 30's: singing Giovenezza for Mary Berenson and getting a toy from BB
Fiorella Superbi Gioffredi	The atmosphere at I Tatti as the war got closer
Fiorella Superbi Gioffredi	Post-war life at I Tatti
Luisa Vertova	Back to work and Berenson's Socratic methods Transcription
Luisa Vertova	BB's advice on reading Transcription
John Walker (as told by Gillian Walker)	BB as mentor to John Walker

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