Farewell to Liliana Curtisthe daughter of Totò. She died this morning at the age of 89, in her Roman home.
The funeral will be held at Napoli, but the date has not yet been disclosed. Liliana De Curtis was born in Rome on May 10, 1933, daughter of the “prince of laughter” and of Diana Rogliani. She was given her first name in remembrance of Liliana Castagnola, an actress to whom the Neapolitan actor had been linked and who committed suicide for the love of Totò. He has participated in the filming of some films such as San Giovanni taken off and Orient express. She was also a stage actress and wrote some books. In Naples on 21 September 2013 she received a career award for her on the occasion of the feast of San Gennaro.
“Mom, the first word you say. Mom, when I call you, I see you running towards me, you take me in your arms, you look at me and you hug me tightly to your chest. Mom I know that you are always with me, the warmth of the your body will accompany me for life. Today you make me cry, but until yesterday you made me smile. Life is made up of opposites: joy and pain, life and death, sonorous and mute, day and night. They are two axes that cross and in that central point the essence of life is contained: love “, writes the daughter Elena Anticoli de Curtis, who, to the end, assisted Liliana. Elena knew that her mother was living her last hours and so, her pain, she decided to entrust it to a poem that she had read at ANSA. “Without love – continues the daughter in her memory – life loses its meaning. As I write I feel your weak and tired breathing, soon I will not hear this breath again, but relief will pervade me, relief because your suffering is over , you will belong to death, if it becomes serious you have abandoned the antics of the living. Thanks mom, you have allowed me to be by your side until the end, you have allowed me to give you back all the love you have covered me with. I love you assaje “.
To Liliana’s daughter he echoes Antonello Buffardi of Curtis, the son: “The most beautiful teaching that my mother left me? Help and love”. For him she was a “wonderful, funny, nice, full of life” woman. “She lived great and unfortunately she died slowly, very slowly and this was a great pain – she tells ANSA – the best gift she gave me is help, which is not denied to anyone. Totò’s only daughter, her greatest love and she was the greatest love for her father “.
“With the death of Liliana de Curtis, Naples and the whole of Italy lose an extraordinary protagonist of the cultural panorama. He kept alive the memory of his father, the unforgettable Totò, reconstructing his life and works for the benefit of those who loved and loves him. still”. With these words the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, comments on the disappearance of Liliana de Curtis. “In this sense – he continues – the municipal administration and the national institutions make maximum efforts so that Totò can soon have the Museum he deserves in the heart of our city”.
A memory also from the former mayor of Naples, Luigi’s Masters: “I have fond memories of Liliana de Curtis with whom we decided to create the exhibition on Totò in 2017 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of the prince of laughter. I am close to Elena and her family”.
THE TOTÒ MUSEUM, THE IRREALIZED DREAM OF LILIANA DAUGHTER
One of his desires has always been the opening of the museo dedicated to his father, Prince De Curtis, in Health District. A large space in the Palazzo dello Spagnolo, a jewel of the Baroque. But Liliana de Curtis failed to fulfill her lifelong dream, even though in recent years the battle had been waged by her daughter Elena.
Every April 15, the anniversary of Totò’s death, the topic was topical again due to the various appeals to the municipal administration and so it was again this year, 55 years after his death. The idea of a prestigious location for all the material was born in 1999 by the De Curtis Foundation. A “Totò museum body” had been approved in the second half of the 90s by the Campania Region, establishing its headquarters on the third and fourth floors of the Palazzo dello Spagnolo, premises given on loan for use to the Municipality of Naples. But the works started after 2000 stopped and the museum remained closed.
Many signatures collected by Fai in 2013 as a ‘place of the heart’ but the prize won could not even be awarded. In 2017 we talk about it again for the accessibility that requires the construction of an elevator system, it seems that the problems of permits have been solved and the Municipality announces the opening of the monuments dedicated to Totò for May. But nothing happens anymore. Two years ago Minister Franceschini also declared, during a visit to Pompeii, that he would have committed himself to the opening of the Totò museum and that resources were available, reiterating it again in 2021.
–
