Evening star., 1923-02-15
Princess Borghese Coming to America
To Lecture ON Italy's Social Conditions

fire. and on one occasion the bonn
bardment was SO heavy that her hos
pital had to be abandoned. She was
quite badly wounded. but after hav
ing herself bandaged up her own
injuries she entirely refused to permit
her hurts to be cared for or to with
draw from the range Of the enemy
guns until every one OF her patients
had been removed to a place of safety.
Unlike her husband. she cannot pride
For her father was Gaetano Di Fer
rari of Genoa and his wife. her
mother, was the Muscovite Maria
Annenkoff, sister of that Russian
Gen. Annenkoff. creator Of the Trans
caspian railroad system. Old Ferrari
had a. dukedom of Lecchi-an island
in Lake Garda-forced upon him by
the late King Victor Emanuel ii. who
declared that it was quite indecent
that man so rich should have no
quired in financial and mercantile
enterprises. notably in the manufac-
ture OF silks and velyets.
= i = =:
AT the time of the marriage of his
only daughter to Don scipio Borghes
he settled upon her sI0.0a0,o00, set
aside for her another $4,000. 900 10
accumulate at compound interest until
they had doubled in value. while on
his death she inherited everything he
had. IN fact today her fortune is
estimated at some s50,000.000. and
under the cumstances it is not sur
rriSing that soon after her wedding
she took steps to recover possession
OF the grand old Borghese palace.
which had been alienated by the trus-
tees of the disastrous bankruptcy of
a fs1S orr. fpt latN
Paul. who died insane two years ago.
She proceeded TO oust most OF its
tenants, notably the Grand Orient of
Italian Frecmasonry.
But the palace. with its three
courtyards adorned with three .monu-
mental bronze fountains, it's double
rows of arcades and hundreds OF gi-
gantic granite columns. was too large
for the sole use of the prince and
princess. So they let out several
apartments. among their tenants be-
ing the British legation accr edited to
the Vatican, and NJ. Jonuart. the am
bassador oS France to the holy see.
Dona Anna Eorghese, who has thus
restored the shattered fortunes Of her
husbands house. had one OF the finest
collections of jewels In the Eternal
city, including a well nigh priceless
collar OF pearls. a superb sapphire
ring worn by that Don Camille Ror-
ghese who reigned as Pope under the
title of Paul V. and also a big ruby
surmounted by diamonds, the setting
ana mounting being a masterpiece Of
the art q Benvenuto Cellini.
x :: =
The French dukedom OF Borghesp
dates from 1865. when il was created
by the first Napoleon in favor of
Prince Camille Borgfese, on the oc-
rcasion Of his marriage to Pauline
Bonaparte. the most beautiful of all
the sisters Of the great emperor. 1t
was this Pauline Borghese who in
the beautiful villa Borghese at Rome,
a creation of Pope Paul v. sat as a
model for Canova's celebrated statue
of Venus. and who. when asked
whether she had not been render
uncomfortable by the extreme scanti-
ness of her costume. replied. "Oh, no I;
there was good fire in the room"
The Borghese family itself dates
from early in the thirteenth century,
and is related by ties Of marriage with
many of the greatest houses of the
British. French. Spanish and Hunsa-
rian aristocracy.