Looking for the amulet: A WWII love story
On Wednesday 9 November, Hunter Club members gathered in Wai-te-ata Press to hear Dr Marco Sonzogni, reader in Italian with the School of Languages and Cultures, relate the love story of Eugenio Montale and Irma Brandeis, based on the unexpected gift of an Etruscan amulet.
Eugenio, an Italian man and Irma, a wealthy New Yorker met by chance in a library in 1933 when Irma went to Florence to study Italian literature, notably Dante Alighieri.
Irma was an admirer of Katherine Mansfield, even fashioning her hairstyle on Mansfield’s signature fringe. She was fascinated by Eugenio’s poetry and pursued him, soon becoming his muse. Although she had to return home alone at the outbreak of war, they never let each other go. Eugenio—a subdued, depressed, insecure individual – went on to marry and in 1975 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
After Irma’s death in 1990 her literary executor discovered letters from Eugenio in which he promised (many times) to send her an amulet – possibly to ward off unwanted suitors! But where was it? Had he actually sent her the gift? A chance meeting with her executor brought Marco into the story and he was asked to investigate the relationship from Irma’s perspective.
A small box containing a tiny figurine was discovered in Irma’s belongings. Underneath it was a small slip of paper with the words ‘Etruscan amulet, EM to IB il pegno’. Irma’s lifelong friend and literary executor, Jean Cook, sent this to Marco and over the past few years, he has been faithfully tracing the story.
Marco led the assembled Hunter Club guests on a journey to believe they would only see photographic images of the amulet as it is now and as it could have been. The big reveal came at the end, when the precious object was carefully unwrapped along with the slip of paper.
Hunter Club is a Development Office initiative for retired University staff. It provides a wonderful opportunity for members to catch up with each other over a cup of tea and listen to a guest speaker from the University. For information about joining Hunter Club, please contact Ros Fogel via email rosalene.fogel@vuw.ac.nz or telephone 04-463 6030.