movie diva
Actress Gina Lollobrigida buried
People gather around the coffin of late film legend Gina Lollobrigida. Lollobrigida, taken to photo in the 1950s
© Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
The ceremonial funeral of the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida in Rome attracts many people. But not all of the mourners are on good terms with each other.
At a funeral service for Gina Lollobrigida, fans, relatives, companions and political dignitaries said goodbye to the Italian actress on Thursday in Rome. “You are a queen!” shouted many people when the coffin of the artist, who died at the age of 95, was carried from the central Piazza del Popolo to the church of Santa Maria in Montesanto. There was long applause, and a sign read: “Gina, you are the glory and honor of all Italians.” Lollobrigida died on Monday.
Among the mourners was Lollobrigida’s son Andrea Milko Skofic, who had recently obtained a court order for his mother to have a financial guardian; that’s why the two had broken up with each other. Francisco Javier Rigau also came to Rome and sat next to the coffin. Lollobrigida was in a relationship with the Spaniard in 2006, but then described him as a marriage swindler. “I loved her very much,” Rigau said, according to the media. Some passers-by shouted at him, “Go home! Scammers! Shame on you!”
Andrea Piazzolla, who officially lived as an assistant to the acting legend in recent years, made no comment. He was sued by Lollobrigida’s son for allegedly exploiting the elderly woman and systematically enriching himself with her property.
Before the funeral mass, the cinema diva, who had achieved worldwide fame in the 1950s and 1960s and later also worked as a photographer and sculptor, was publicly laid out in the Roman town hall. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid her last respects in the morning.
The burial was planned in the cemetery of Lollobrigida’s birthplace, Subiaco, east of Rome.
Gina Lollobrigida at IMDb