On Wednesday I linked to a listening about Giovanni Amendola, anti-Fascist activist, which includes the information that he was born in Napoli.
Whoever recorded the audio for us (it was years ago, so I don’t recall), changed that to Salerno, and several of you wrote in to point out that this is incorrect.
My fact-checking was inconclusive, as an Internet search turned up conflicting information.
The two cities are only 50 kilometres or so apart, so perhaps that’s why there’s confusion.
Wikipedia (where my daughter probably got her facts from) says his birthplace was Naples, but Amendola represented Salerno in parliament.
If anyone can confirm his birthplace from a reliable source other than Wikipedia, do let me know.
If not, we’ll assume that the person who did the recording was from Salerno and thought she knew better.
And leave it at that.
For today, here are a couple more ‘street names’ you’ll probably come across in Italy and certainly if you decide to take an Italian course in Bologna.
Malpighi was born near (not in) this city.
He was an anatomist, and so also has a hospital named after him.
They have a particularly good cardiac intensive care facility, as I can testify from personal experience!
Any U.S. senators who happen to be members of our club please note, while tax rates in Italy are high, health care here is (virtually) free.
A medical emergency therefore cost me zero, and exempted me from prescription drug charges for the rest of my days (I have to stay in Italy, though, so that’s a bit of a mixed blessing…)
Marconi, inventor of radio, actually WAS born in Bologna.
One of the two main north-south streets in Bologna is named after him (take a look at a map and you’ll see that it links up with via Amendola, too!)
And one final interesting fact for this sunny Friday…
What the rest of the world calls ‘bologna’ or ‘baloney’, a sausage derived from pork, is known here as mortadella.
Click the link to check out a picture of a huge sausage!
Mortadella, as far as I’m aware, DOESN’T have a street named after it.
Though it probably won’t be long, as it’s surely better known than either Malpighi or Marconi.
P.S.
Click any of the Malpighi or Marconi links in this article to access today’s two free listening exercises.
More ‘street names’ next week!
A lunedì.
P.P.S.
‘Mille grazie’ to Sheila in Britain, who keeps sending me corrections as she works through the material on our site.
It’s appreciated, and I promise I’ll soon get round to fixing the things you’ve noted.
In the meantime, keep sending them in!