Feud of Loren and La Lollo

QUESTION

What ignited the lifelong feud between Italian actresses Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida?

Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida were the maggiorata fisica (‘ buxom beauties’) of italian film. Former beauty pageant contestants-turned-actresses, they made their names in italian films before finding hollywood fame.

Their feud was to do with age, jealousy and the celebrity culture of the day.

Born in 1927, Lollobrigida was the first to achieve international fame. in 1950, she signed a seven-year contract with howard hughes to make three pictures a year for rKo. Loren was seven years her junior.

Through the Fifties, egged on by the tabloid press, publicists and movie producers, the sirens were pitted against one another for the title of prettiest, curviest, most popular and most famous.

Magazines ran charts comparing their vital statistics against those of anita ekberg, Brigitte Bardot, Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe.

While the feud was contrived to put bums on seats, it became real, particularly for Lollobrigida — known as La Lollo — who acidly commented: ‘We are as different as a fine racehorse and a goat.’

When they met for the first time at the Berlin Film Festival in 1954, Lollobrigida refused to have her photo taken with Loren. it was only resolved when american actress Yvonne de Carlo agreed to be pictured in the middle of the two warring women.

Later that year, the pair were at an event in London promoting italian film. a furious Lollobrigida walked out when she was invited to take part in a bustmeasuring contest alongside the 20-yearold Loren, who coyly asked the press: ‘Why is Gina mad at me? it’s true my measurements excel hers, but is that a reason to be furious with me?’

By the end of the Fifties, Loren had overtaken Lollobrigida at the box office. Despite selling rKo, hughes refused to release Lollobrigida from her contract,

Awkward: (left to right) Sophia Loren, Yvonne de Carlo and Gina Lollobrigida which meant she couldn’t work in hollywood until 1959, while Loren was snapping up all the best roles.

Known as a prima donna, behind her back the older actress was often called ‘Lollofrigida’, and she was involved in at least ten petty lawsuits.

The feud with Loren has never faded — even though they are now 92 and 85 years old. in a 90th birthday interview, Lollobrigida said: ‘We are different. We made completely different careers. i wanted to be an artist more than anything else. i wanted a career on a high level.’

Lauren Bishop, Birmingham.

QUESTION

Russian composer Alexander Scriabin claimed his final performance would signal the end of the world. Did he ever give this concert? Alexander Scriabin was a classmate of Sergei rachmaninov at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating with the Gold Medal in 1892.

he was influenced by Frederic Chopin and much of his early output, mainly works for piano, mirrored the polish composer’s style.

Scriabin developed an atonal, dissonant musical system independently of its most famous proponent, the austrian-born american composer arnold Schoenberg, and a personal brand of mysticism based on religious ecstasies.

he had a fantastical plan to stage a seven- day ritualised, multi- sensory spectacle at the foot of the himalayas. his composition Mysterium was to be accompanied by dance, light, scent and colour. Scriabin believed the whole of humanity, intoxicated by his music and mesmerised by his magnetism, would join him in an act of ecstatic transcendence to a higher plane of existence — ending the world as we know it.

Before he could unleash his vision on the world, Scriabin died in 1915 of blood poisoning caused by a carbuncle on his lip. Mysterium was never finished and the world was saved.

Despite his eccentricities, Scriabin is considered important because of his influence on the composers igor Stravinsky and Sergei prokofiev.

Simon Weston, Portishead, Somerset.

QUESTION

When were diamonds first made into jewels, and how?

Diamonds in an uncut form have been set into jewellery since ancient times. The oldest extant examples date from ancient rome.

The technology for cutting diamonds — the hardest substance on earth — was not developed until the 13th century.

point cut diamonds are known from the 14th century. These were diamonds whose natural shape was enhanced by grinding with diamond dust.

The first true diamond cut dates from the 15th century. The table cut utilised a simple faceting method of removing the top and bottom points of the natural octahedron form.

Despite a diamond’s hardness, there is a relatively weak plane in parallel layers through the stone — it can be split at the top and bottom with the application of another diamond and then polished with diamond dust.

This technology is thought to have developed in Venice or the Middle east along the major trade route from india, the primary source of diamonds until the 18th century.

Diamonds of this era were expensive, highly prized and only recorded in the richest courts of europe. Few table cut diamonds survive, as most were recut over time.

The ability to grind further facets, as seen on modern diamonds, became possible with the invention of the rotary diamond wheel in the 16th century. Louise Heywood, Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

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