April 27, today’s almanac: births, deaths and saint of the day

It happened today

Mary Wollstonecraft was born on April 27, 1759, in London. For a long time she was remembered above all for her scandalous life and for being the mother of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. She was actually one of the first feminist philosophers: in her most famous essay, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, argues that women have the same faculties as men and therefore should receive the same education and occupy an equal role in society, instead of being considered ornaments, as was the case then. She died young from complications during childbirth. A few months later, heartbroken, her husband published her biography, in which she recounts – with unusual frankness for the time – all the details of her extraordinary life, including extramarital affairs, suicide attempts and an illegitimate daughter. Which ruined her reputation for the century to come. On 27 April 1992, Labour’s Betty Boothroyd was elected speaker of the British House of Commons, the first woman to hold the post.

Of Luigi Gaetani

Born of the day

Mary Wollstonecraft27 April 1759, British philosopher and writer

Samuel Morse, 27 April 1791, American painter, inventor and historian Herbert Spencer, 27 April 1820, British philosopher

Giovanni LaterzaApril 27, 1873, editor

Renato RascelApril 27, 1912, actor, comedian, singer-songwriter and dancer

Lelio LuttazziApril 27, 1923, pianist, actor, singer and showman

Vittorio Cecchi Gori27 April 1942, entrepreneur, former politician and film producer

Frank AbagnaleApril 27, 1948, former American swindler

Graziano DelrioApril 27, 1960, politician

Orazio Schillaci27 April 1966, politician and doctor

Chiara GamberaleApril 27, 1977, writer, radio presenter and television presenter

LizzoApril 27, 1988, American singer, rapper and flautist

Deaths of the day

Ferdinand Magellan27 April 1521, Portuguese explorer and navigator

Carlo Felice of Savoy27 April 1831, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy

Ralph Waldo EmersonApril 27, 1882, American philosopher, writer and poet

Roberto OlivettiApril 27, 1985, company manager

Antonio Gramsci27 April 1937, politician, philosopher and political scientist

Carlos CastanedaApril 27, 1998, Peruvian naturalized American writer

Vujadin Boskov27 April 2014, football coach and former Yugoslavian footballer

Saint of the day

Saint Zita, devout Christian from Lucca. Born into a humble family around 1218, she began working for the Fatinelli family of Lucca while still a child. She soon became popular with the city’s poor for her generosity. There is great devotion to Santa Zita in Lucca, where the saint’s remains are kept in the basilica of San Frediano. She was even mentioned by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy, where he described her as ‘saint’ even before the woman’s actual canonization.