of Christ” which he found particularly interesting. We often read religious works together. Guglielmo was very interested in the texts of St. Paul and St. Augustine whose works and ideas he admired.
The Sacrament of Confirmation was administered by a Bishop in my family’s palace in Via Condotti in Rome, where I was born and where I lived with my parents. My father Count Francesco Bezzi Scali stood godfather to Guglielmo. I was present with my mother Anna Sacchetti the daughter of Marquis Urbano Sacchetti and of Princess Beatrice Orsini. Guglielmo was deeply moved because he knew the importance of the decision he was about to take. I had the joy of knowing that Guglielmo now shared my great faith which was to give us strength for the rest of our lives. After our marriage, he liked to conclude his scientific conferences on his experiments and inventions by stressing that everything he had succeeded in doing with his discoveries had been a gift from God. I helped him to have a wide religious culture which he assimilated quickly and with great interest. He often met my spiritual counsellor, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, who had a great respect for him. He knew that Guglielmo’s conversion was genuine and that he truly loved me.
During our engagement I introduced Guglielmo to Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, Secretary of State to His Holiness the Pope. On 11th February, 1929 he and Mussolini who was then the Italian Prime Minister signed the Concordat, thus putting an end to the contention between the Italian State and the Church which had been going on since 1870. I kept the correspondence between the Cardinal and my husband and I presented Pope John Paul II with a letter which Guglielmo sent to Cardinal Gasparri, written on board his yacht; engraved on the writing-paper are the flag of the Royal Yacht Squadron and the name, “Elettra”. It is now kept in the Vatican Museums.
On his return to the practice of the Catholic faith Marconi asked the Sacra Rota (the ecclesiastic high court) to annul his marriage since his first wife had already remarried. After carefully examining his matrimonial situation the Sacra Rota granted his request and at the beginning of 1927 Guglielmo’s first marriage was declared null. The statement of reasons in the judgment, expressly provided for by the code of canon law, was of “invalid consent” (that is that the parties even before they were married had declared themselves ready to separate in the event of the marriage vows being broken). This statement of reasons was proved conclusively by the unanimous declarations made by the witnesses before the ecclesiastic high court and these statements in fact rendered the marriage null.
This made it possible for us to be married in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome on 15th June 1927. It was a solemn occasion and the marriage was blessed by our great friend Cardinal Evaristo Lucidi since Cardinal Pacelli was in Berlin because of his diplomatic commitments as Apostolic Nuncio. Guglielmo’s witnesses were Prince Clemente del Drago and Prince Ludovico Spada Potenziani while my witnesses were my uncles Prince Domenico Orsini and the Marquis Guglielmo Guglielmi d’Antognolla. All our friends and relatives and a crowd of Roman citizens were present and when we came out of the church they showered us with flower petals. After the wedding there was a very elegant and intimate luncheon at my parents’ house in Via Condotti with our witnesses, relatives and closest friends.
My wedding-dress was of white satin with a long train, made by the well-known dressmaker Ventura and designed by Madame Anna. I wore a diamond tiara and an antique Irish lace veil which had belonged to Guglielmo’s mother on my head. One thing which still touches me is that the tiara was designed for me personally by Guglielmo as he did not think that any of the ones he had seen in the various jewellers in London were beautiful enough for me. (See letter dated 14 May 1927)
Since the matrimonial concordat between the Italian State and the Holy See was not yet in force in 1927, the civil ceremony had taken place two days before in the Capitol. This was followed by a formal reception at my parents’ house with all our relatives, including Guglielmo’s brother Alfonso who had come from London for the occasion and many of our friends from the Roman aristocracy, the Vatican and other personalities, including the ambassadors of various countries who admired Guglielmo very much.
LETTERS WRITTEN BY GUGLIELMO MARCONI TO HIS BELOVED CRISTINA BEFORE THEIR MARRIAGE
PRESENTATION
This is the first time that I have published these letters written by my father to my mother.
In life, my parents were always very reserved about the deep feeling they shared for one another. I feel a great deal of emotion in revealing my father's state of mind when he wrote these letters to my mother. I have been uncertain, but at the same time, I have felt the duty to let people know the truth about the great love and devotion that existed between them, which lasted all their lives.
From these letters--so intense and alive, there appears evidence that their love never failed, never had ups and downs, and was always constant, always faithful, always total. I repeat: it is the first time that I offer to those of you who have treasured and have been inspired by my father's memory, and now also, of my mother. I am offering you, the readers of these memoirs, the chance to penetrate in the private life of my parents.
I can say with pleasure that my father found, in his love for my mother, a new impulse and the challenge to do and to create always more, to research every aspect and detail of his experiments, and to complete with utmost devotion the preparation of his inventions.
He was, without doubt, always reinforced and enlightened by his Faith, and by my mother's love.
My spirit, as his grateful daughter, being now the only one to keep alive the most intimate, clear memories of both my father and my mother, I ask all you, who read these letters, to do it with respect and understanding.
(Elettra's signature here.)
Savoy Hotel London, Sunday 27th June, 1926
Dear Cristina,
Here I am writing to you again!!!
I must tell you that there is no power on earth which can change or diminish by so much as a milligram the greatness and beauty of everything that I feel “for one special person”.
I have not gone on board the Elettra yet because I did not want to risk my absence delaying the proceedings for my case before the Westminster Court by even one hour. I have started working on my scientific experiments again and also all the other matters regarding radiocommunications which I deal with myself. I feel, from the interest you take in my experiments, that you are pleased that I am going on with my work which keeps me in contact with the beauties of nature that you too love so much.
I enclose some cuttings of newspaper articles, one of which gives quite a full description of what I am doing and what I still need to do for communications with the different parts of the British Empire. Another is my description of microwaves. They want to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of my first invention here in England too. As you will see there are some newspapers which are going on a bit about the fact that it was England that understood the importance of my invention of wireless telegraphy and exploited my discovery.
I must say that I feel rather embarrassed about sending you newspaper articles that say so many nice things about me but I promise it is not the reason I am sending them. It is because you have told me more than once that you would like me to send them to you, so here they are; also so that you can follow what I am doing from afar and know what is being said about me.
And then, as you know, I am determined (as soon as I am completely free) to ask you something very serious and very important. The greatest, most important and serious question that a man can ask and a woman can answer in all her life. Probably this is the reason why I feel such a great need to keep in touch with you in spirit.
With my kindest regards to your mother, I remain your devoted,
Guglielmo Marconi
London, 16th February 1927
...The delegates of the American, French and German governments are here in London now to discuss many international questions regarding the Radio and also to make agreements for the use of my Beam System in their respective countries...