Franca Magnani

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Franca Magnani (born Schiavetti; * July 1, 1925 in Rome ; † October 28, 1996 there ) was an Italian journalist , writer and freelance writer for various TV and print media in Germany and Switzerland . From 1964 she worked as the first foreign correspondent for German television for ARD in Rome.

Life

Childhood and youth

Franca Magnani was the second-born daughter of the editor-in-chief of the Italian anti-fascist newspaper La Voce Repubblicana , Fernando Schiavetti and his wife Giulia Bondanini Schiavetti. When the family in 1926 because of the opposition attitude of the father to the government victims of fascist attacks was the father moved to Marseille on. His wife followed him with the older daughter. Franca Magnani, at that time still too young to flee, grew up with her grandfather Chino in Todi , a provincial town in Umbria . After his grandfather had obtained the permission of the then Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1928 , Magnani was brought to her parents in France. The father, a staunch anti-fascist, expressed his displeasure to the grandfather: "I will never forgive you for giving the Duce the opportunity to be generous."

At first, Magnani was a stranger to her parents. Nevertheless, she quickly settled in her new environment. In France , Magnani went to school and learned French. When Magnani's father lost his job as a truck driver, the family emigrated to Zurich in 1931 , where the father found a job as a teacher and headmaster of the Free Italian School. The Swiss exile was a culture shock for Magnani , as the mentality and the values ​​of punctuality, order and calm that were upheld in Switzerland were new to her, in contrast to the lively, loud Marseille. In Switzerland, Magnani attended, among other things, the Italian Free School, the head of which her parents had been appointed. The lessons were based on the anti-fascist ideals and should educate the students "to conscious and effective peace service, social justice and international brotherhood". The explicit work ban imposed on their parents during the immigration process "prohibited them from any activity other than the 'teaching at the Free Italian School' permitted in the residence permit." As a result, the family always suffered from financial problems. However, Magnani did not see the lack of money as an injustice, as it seemed completely normal "that everything in my family was different from that of my friends". During the Second World War Magnani was a member of the so-called land service for young volunteers, as her parents felt it was their duty to provide Switzerland with a proof of solidarity.

Adulthood

In 1944 Magnani married the Swiss journalist and philosopher Arnold Künzli at the age of 19 . A short time later she returned to Rome with her husband . Magnani had come to know and love her homeland through the yearning and devotion of her parents. However, Italy did not correspond to the ideas she had had about her homeland in exile. In Italy, too, she “didn't feel like the others”. She said: “At the same time, however, I felt that my roots were here in this country and not in another. For better or worse, I belonged to him and it belonged to me. ”When Künzli was offered a position as foreign correspondent for the Basler National-Zeitung in England , Magnani traveled with him to London . England inspired them straight away. Austerity , in particular , the post-war way of life characteristic of Great Britain at the time , corresponded to Magnani's idea of ​​justice and citizenship and was with her throughout her life. Magnani's first marriage did not last. After the separation, Magnani moved back to Zurich in 1951, where she worked as a journalist. However, the divorce was only carried out by a Swiss court a year later, in 1952. Regarding her first marriage, Magnani said that she had married too early and "passed from the care of [her] father directly into that of [her] husband."

She met her second husband Valdo Magnani in 1947 on a delegation trip to Venice and Yugoslavia . He was an Italian Communist and MP for the Communist Party who fought underground during the war. Valdo Magnani was her great love; with him she had two children, Marco and Sabina Magnani von Petersdorff . When Valdo Magnani went into opposition to the official political party line of the KPI in 1951 by condemning the rise of Stalinism , Magnani's parents also opposed their son-in-law. Only many years later, in 1956, did a political speech by Khrushchev , who supported Valdo Magnani's views on Stalinism, bring about a settlement of the family conflict.

Franca Magnani died in 1996 at the age of 71 years at a cancer in her hometown of Rome.

Family and upbringing

The father, Fernando Schiavetti, raised his daughters to think independently. The moral framework on which his education was based was freedom and conscientiousness. His guiding principle was that you have to learn to think with your own head and to follow your conscience. Magnani should always form her own opinion on religious matters too. In addition to his own judgment, the father attached particular importance to language: "For him, the loss of language meant the loss of roots and identity." So Magnani learned the importance of correct expression and linguistic competence as a child. In addition to her native Italian, she spoke fluent German, English and French.

Family life was very lively, not least due to the large number of visitors that Magnani's parents received. By living in exile, Magnani attached special importance to her family. It was a kind of refuge, a “wagon castle in which one felt safe and to which of course the friends [...] belonged, while outside, outside these walls, one felt defenseless”.

Political position

Magnani's life was strongly influenced by political events from birth. Both her father and her second husband were both involved in politics. Although Magnani was interested in politics and supported her husband's political views, she was never actively involved in politics. She made her contribution through her journalistic work, which was ultimately not apolitical. She was also a sympathizer of the women's movement in the 1960s. Magnani was never a communist, but she was politically left-wing. In the early 1980s she brokered a meeting between Willy Brandt and Italy's Communist Party leader Enrico Berlinguer in her private apartment.

She believed that good politics cannot do without morality. This view reflects her father's upbringing. Her political philosophy was:

"The more citizens a country has with civil courage , the fewer heroes it will need one day."

Journalistic work

As with politics, Magnani came into contact with journalism early on. Her father and Arnold Künzli, her first husband, both worked as journalists. In addition, she made the acquaintance of numerous journalists and politicians in her childhood. At the age of eight Magnani met the Italian writer Ignazio Silone , with whom she had a lifelong friendship. Looking back, Magnani says she was born into her profession. Magnani first became a journalist herself during her time in London. There she met the British historian and journalist Elizabeth Wiskemann , from whom she, according to her own account, learned the journalistic trade alongside her father and Arnold Künzli. Her first articles were about life in London and were published by her father, who was then editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper in Bologna . When Künzli was transferred to Bonn, Magnani accompanied him again and continued her journalistic career there. From 1951 she worked as a journalist for the Swiss women's magazine Annabelle and as a freelancer for the weekly newspaper Weltwoche . There she found further journalistic mentors in Mabel Zuppinger, the then editor-in-chief of Annabelle , Manuel Gasser and Georg Gerster . She was now able to express her early fascination for film and theater occasionally in the form of film reviews that were put on paper. The attitude towards her profession was strongly influenced by her time in exile in Switzerland, during which she was introduced to the virtues of journalism that were most important to her, incorruptibility and fighting spirit. After the birth of her daughter in 1954, Magnani began to write again, this time for the Swiss weekly Die Tat , as well as for the SPD newspaper Vorwärts .

From 1964 she worked as the first foreign correspondent for German television in the ARD studio in Rome. Her contributions and live broadcasts mainly dealt with political and social issues as well as her home country Italy and were particularly popular with the German audience. "In her journalistic contributions, the more recent stories of Europe are reflected as well as its different fashions, preferences and mentalities". The experiences she had made with the anti-fascist resistance in her childhood had a strong impact on her life's work.

When the journalist Wolf Feller, close to the CSU, took over the studio management in 1977 , the number of Magnani's television programs fell considerably. Magnani felt “discriminated against and downgraded professionally” by her new boss. The conflict came to a head and culminated in 1987 with her resignation without notice. The reasons given were a broken relationship of trust and the savings due to the increased use of electronic technology. Magnani, who worked for Bavarian television for 23 years, went to court and finally won the lawsuit in 1991. Despite the termination without notice, Magnani continued her journalistic work. Your contributions could be heard regularly on WDR . There she worked for Monitor and the West 3 international broadcast worldwide . Magnani was also a popular talk show guest and appeared on the SFB and SWF channels, among others .

Awards

Literary work

German works

Italian works

  • Viaggio di un presidente. SugarCo, Milan 1980.
  • Una famiglia italiana. Feltrinelli, Milan 1991.
  • Ciao Bella! Aliberti editore, Reggio Emilia 2004.

literature

  • Christiane Kohl: Franca Magnani. The brave. In: Hans-Jürgen Jakobs, Wolfgang R. Langenbucher (Ed.): The conscience of their time. Fifty role models of journalism. Picus, Vienna 2004, pp. 250-254, ISBN 385-452-478-1 .
  • Gerhard Danzer: Europe, your women. Contributions to a female cultural history. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2015, pp. 277–288, ISBN 978-3662-44231-9 .

Movie

  • Heads, experts and backdrops - Franca Magnani , TV portrait for WDR by Albrecht Reinhard and Wilfried Huismann , 1988

Web links

Wikiquote: Franca Magnani  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 30.
  2. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. Pp. 65, 69.
  3. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 72.
  4. ↑ FrancaMagnani: An Italian family. P. 69.
  5. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 185.
  6. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 230.
  7. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 270.
  8. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 281.
  9. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 302.
  10. ↑ Christiane Kohl: The courageous. P. 252.
  11. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 68.
  12. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 110.
  13. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 180.
  14. ↑ Helga Kuhn: Newspapers are life for me. In: Rhein-Main-Presse (April 29, 1989)
  15. ^ Franca Magnani: Who remembers, lives twice. P. 256.
  16. ↑ Christiane Kohl: The courageous. P. 253.
  17. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 128.
  18. ↑ Christiane Kohl: The courageous. P. 251.
  19. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 294.
  20. ^ Franca Magnani: An Italian family. P. 287.
  21. ↑ Gerhard Danzer: Europe, your women. P. 278.
  22. ↑ Buona Fortuna. In: Der Spiegel , No. 44/1987, October 26, 1987.
  23. ↑ Feller fires Franca Magnani. In: TAZ (October 21, 1987)
personal data
SURNAME Magnani, Franca
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian journalist
DATE OF BIRTH July 1, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1996
Place of death Rome