Wednesday, 2 April 2025

1659) Silvio Furlani

Silvio Furlani (1921 - 2001). Italian librarian and historian.
Born of an Italian father and an Austrian mother, he attended primary school in Graz and continued his studies in Italy, first in Vicenza and then in Teramo. In 1946 he graduated with honours in Letters and Philosophy at 'La Sapienza' University.
In 1947, he won the competition for titles and examinations announced by the Constituent Assembly, for a post as secretary of the Library of the Chamber of Deputies, and contributed to the reorganisation of the institute during Umberto Collamarini's provisional directorship, until Furlani himself became director.
In the course of his career, in addition to studying librarianship, he worked on parliamentary history and electoral history.

 

- "Nel libro di Gianni Sofri, L'anno mancante. Arsenio Frugoni nel 1944-45, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021, Silvio Furlani è identificato nel “normalista dai capelli rossi”..." [In the book by Gianni Sofri L'anno mancante, Arsenio Frugoni nel 1944-1945... Silvio furlani is identified he 'red-haired normalista'..." https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Furlani

 
"Normalista' is anyone who studies or graduated at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. This nickname was given to Furlani by mistake, since he did study in Pisa, but at the university's Faculty of Letters, not at the Scuola Normale.

 


 

1658) Raffaella Carrà

 Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni (1943 – 2021), known professionally as Raffaella Carrà. Italian singer, dancer, actress, television presenter and model. She is often widely considered a pop culture icon in Europe and Latin America.
Carrà released 25 studio albums in 37 countries, between Europe and Latin America, selling over 60 million records worldwide, which includes "A far l'amore comincia tu", "Fiesta", "Forte forte forte", "Pedro", "Tanti auguri" and "Tuca Tuca", singing in Italian, Spanish, English and French.
She became a successful TV host and personality in Italy, Spain and Argentina, being recognized with several awards,. After an acclaimed acting debut in Italy, Carrà signed an acting deal with 20th Century Fox in Hollywood, also starring in French and Spanish films, working with Mario Monicelli, Marcello Mastroianni, Frank Sinatra, Edward Mulhare, Trevor Howard, Jean Marais and James Coburn.

- "Chi la ricorda agli esordi, Raffaella Carrà, il cui vero nome era Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni, aveva capelli rosso mogano ondulati." [Those who remember her at the beginning, Raffaella Carrà, whose real name was Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni, had wavy mahogany red hair.] https://gerardorussillolab.com/2021/07/08/raffaella-carra-icona-di-stile/ 

 

- "Raffaella nasce con dei capelli ondulati di colore rosso mogano..." [Raffaella was born with wavy, mahogany red hair] https://issuu.com/edizioniprinted/docs/feltrinonews_dic21/s/14202179




 

Tuesday, 25 March 2025

1657) Saint Sava

Saint Sava (1169 or 1174 – 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator. Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law, and a diplomat.
Sava, born as Rastko Nemanjić, was the youngest son of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (founder of the Nemanjić dynasty), and ruled the appanage of Zachlumia briefly in 1190–92. He then left for Mount Athos, where he became a monk tonsured with the name Sava (Sabbas). At Athos he established the monastery of Hilandar, which became one of the most important cultural and religious centres of the Serbian people. In 1219 the Patriarchate exiled in Nicea recognized him as the first Serbian Archbishop, and in the same year he authored the oldest known constitution of Serbia, the Zakonopravilo nomocanon, thus securing full religious and political independence. Sava is regarded as the founder of Serbian medieval literature.
He is the patron saint of Serbia, Serbs, Serbian education and medicine. The Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade is dedicated to him, built on the site where the Ottomans burnt his remains in 1594, during an uprising in which Serbs used icons of Sava as their war flags; the church is one of the largest church buildings in the world.
In order to distinguish him from other saints and canonized Serbian archbishops of the same name, he is also posthumously titled Saint Sava I of Serbia.

 








Sunday, 23 March 2025

1656) Te Whatuiāpiti

Te Whatuiāpiti (circa 1620 - ?). Māori rangatira (chieftain) of Ngāti Kahungunu from the Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand and the ancestor of the Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti hapū.

As a member of Te Hika a Pāpāuma, Te Whatuiāpiti was locked in a multi-generational feud with his cousins in Te Hika a Ruarauhanga. As a result, in his youth he was driven out of the Hawke’s Bay region, finding sanctuary in the Wairarapa. Later, he returned and, after a conflict with a rival chief named Pokia, he established himself at Te Kauhanga (modern Haumoana) and on Lake Rotoatara (near Te Aute). After further conflict, he fell in love with Te Huhuti, daughter of Te Rangitaumaha of Te Hika a Ruarauhanga, who married him and ended the feud between the two families. Their courtship is considered to be one of the great romances of Māori tradition.

 

- "Te Whatuiāpiti had red hair, and is said to have been one of the most handsome chiefs of his time... Te Whatuiāpiti heard that he had been called a kumukumu (red gurnard), on account of his red hair." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Whatui%C4%81piti


 

Wednesday, 19 March 2025

1655) Jim McCarthy

James (Jim) Stephen McCarthy (1924 – 2015). Irish rugby union player who played for Munster, the Irish national team, and the British and Irish Lions. He was a member of the Grand Slam winning Irish squad in the 1948 Five Nations Championship.

 

- ""A flying redhead, he was an invaluable ally to Jack Kyle..." https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/munster-legend-jim-mccarthy-dies-aged-90-a-great-character-and-an-even-greater-player/31161646.html 

 

- "The red head of McCarthy popped up everywhere,” https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/arid-20325368.html 

 

- "... his red hair and all-action displays making him stand out in the Irish back row..." https://www.irishrugby.ie/2015/04/21/jim-mccarthy-a-rugby-life-in-quotes/


 

 

Thursday, 13 March 2025

1654) Roei Sadan

Roei Sadan (1982 – 2021). Israeli adventurer who became famous worldwide for cycling around the world.
Roei’s worldwide cycling voyage started in July 2007, in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, a voyage that lasted four and a half years.
Sadan next planned a kayak trip across the West Coast of North America. In 2015, while taking a break from his training for the trip, he vacationed in India where he was seriously injured in a mountain climbing accident in the Stok Kangri mountain range. After being stabilized, he was flown to Israel where he was hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center and was in a coma for more than a month before awakening. He had to undergo lengthy rehabilitation and physical therapy.
On 11 March 2021, while riding his bicycle near Rosh Hanikra, Sadan was hit by a bus and suffered permanent brain damage. He died at the hospital the next day.

 

- "An inspiring interview with a courageous Israeli red-head who is about to go cycling around the world for the second time." https://www.outlooktraveller.com/explore/adventure/back-to-faith-an-interview-with-roei-sadan 


 

Wednesday, 12 March 2025

1653) Liu Yuan

Liu Yuan (died in 310), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Guangwen of Han (Zhao). Founding emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han-Zhao dynasty of China during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Due to Tang dynasty naming taboo, he is referred to by his courtesy name as Liu Yuanhai in the Book of Jin.
With the dissolution of the Southern Xiongnu in 216, the last vestiges of their power were divided into Five Divisions in Bing province around modern-day Shanxi. Liu Yuan was born into the aristocracy of the Five Divisions and was sent to the Chinese capital, Luoyang as a hostage during his youth, where he became highly sinicized and later held several government offices under the Western Jin dynasty. As the War of the Eight Princes weakened Jin authority in northern China, Liu Yuan was called upon by the Five Divisions to lead their rebellion, and in 304, he declared independence from the Jin and founded the Han-Zhao dynasty, one of the first of the Sixteen Kingdoms. His declaration, along with the founding of the Cheng-Han dynasty in Sichuan that same year, marked the formal end of the Western Jin's brief unification of China following the Three Kingdoms period.

 

- "In the Book of Wei, Chinese author Wei Shou notes that Liu Yuan was over six feet tall and that he had strands of red hair in his long beard." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Yuan_(Han-Zhao)#Physical_appearance