Rodolfo Valentino

Rodolfo Valentino

Rodolfo Guglielmi, known professionally as Rodolfo Valentino (Castellaneta, 6 May 1895 – New York, 23 August 1926). He who would later become known worldwide as Rodolfo Valentino was a student at the Practical School of Agriculture "B. Marsano" in S. Ilario from 7 November 1910 to 20 October 1912, when he obtained his diploma as "rural agent". The documents that have been found tell us he was an exemplary student with excellent grades, though lively. It is said that even then he was particularly susceptible to female charm. Returning home after a few months, he left for Paris, where he actively took part in social life and became an expert dancer. Having spent all the money he had brought with him, he was forced to return home with his mother's help. By then, the provincial environment of Apulia was no longer for him, and he embarked on the merchant ship Cleveland for New York, where he landed on 23 December 1913. In the United States, during the first two years, he survived by working as a waiter and gardener, precisely using the qualification he had obtained in S. Ilario. His film career is well known and certainly does not need to be recalled here. Witnesses recount that in 1922, while returning from Paris to embark in Genoa with his fiancée Natascia Rambova (met on the set of the film "Camille"), he visited friends in S. Ilario, who could not believe their eyes when they saw him step out of a powerful American automobile. He died in New York following surgery for appendicitis and a gastric ulcer. His memory in Sant'Ilario is still alive.

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Rodolfo Valentino