Eva Catizone
"former" Mayor of Cosenza
Posted on 01/19/2006 12:21:56 PM PST by NYer
Calabria in southern Italy is famous for its ruthless mafia and hot chilli peppers and is certainly no stranger to passion, intrigue and vendetta.
But the tale of an affair between one of its female mayors and a local council leader has reached a finale worthy of grand opera - and gripped the entire nation.
Another cruel twist was the death on the town hall steps of a journalist who had chronicled their romance, just as the melodrama reached its climax.
Italian gossip magazines have been obsessed by the liaison, not least because the two lovers, both from the provincial capital of Cosenza, are called "Adam" and "Eve".
Such drama has also provoked a bitter election-year power struggle in a region steeped in sexual conservatism.
The "Eve" of the story is Eva Catizone, a dynamic, glamorous, 40-year-old single mother and, until Tuesday, the city's mayor.
The "Adam" is her former lover, Nicola Adamo, regional leader of the Democrats of the Left, head of the council and father of Miss Catizone's one-year-old son, Filippo.
Miss Catizone is both revered and reviled. For some she is a feminist icon, with her own fan club website. But her emotional, populist style, more Eva Peron than biblical Eve, has alienated her from what she calls "dark, grey politicians".
For months Miss Catizone kept the identity of her child's father secret because Mr Adamo was married with two other children.
He finally came clean to the press in 2004 and was publicly dumped by his jealous wife. In strongly Catholic Calabria that spelt the end of his political career. So he issued a public apology to his wife, who then allowed him to return.
Like the errant Eve of the Old Testament, Miss Catizone's fate was sealed by a forbidden fruit, in this case that of love.
After months of backbiting, her former allies decided to back a motion of no-confidence against her.
Her cause was not helped by a poll on Sunday showing her popularity had slipped to a mere 11 per cent. Miss Catizone alleged that Mr Adamo "was the occult director of this miserable affair". Deciding to jump before she was pushed, she handed in her resignation on Tuesday.
"I've been politically raped," she declared before rushing out of the council chamber and locking herself in the mayor's office.
Almost simultaneously, Antonino Cartera, 49, a political reporter and leading chronicler of the saga, collapsed and died of a heart attack outside.
He lay dead on the town hall steps for two hours, a victim of Italy's bureaucracy and a delay in issuing a death certificate. The council resumed its work regardless.
"Even I didn't expect such inhumanity. They [the council] didn't even stop when faced with a death," said Miss Catizone.
Her last political act, for the time being at least, was to lower the council flag down to half mast to show her respect for the journalist.
Some afternoon levity :-)
Just in case you wondered where Verdi and the rest got the outrageous plots for their operas!
From the title I thought someone discovered an unknown Grand Opera masterpiece.
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His "jealous" wife? Shame on her for ruining this wonderful romance!
Man that's like bureaucracy hell over there I guess. Even one of our own lazy unionized bureaucrats would have moved him into the bushes or something.
"I've been politically raped,"
Raped? Honey, it sounds to me like you couldn't get your panties down fast enough. What part of "adultery is wrong" do you not get?
I am reminded of a TV news show years ago that discussed how US businesses with operations in Italy either mailed letters from the Vatican or sent mail by courier to Switzerland for mailing. The show then ended with a pictures of mail from the Italian post office that had backed up and overloaded then system being taken to a paper pulp mill where the unopened and stamped mail was being recycled into new paper.
I am not sure it is still this bad, but you have to wonder.
Had emergency help arrived promptly, the journalist might have even been saved, but hey!
LOL. Leave it to the Italians, eh? . . .
Don't look at me!
LOL! OK -- I won't. ;-)
You're early tonight. :-)
We had a little get-together after work for one of the folks in the office who is moving to Boston.
Okie Dokie.
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