Michelangelo Arezzo is an Italian-American writer born in Bristol, Connecticut, from a family from Ragusa. He graduated in Political Economy at the "La Sapienza" University of Rome. Author of various publications related to economics and politics, in 2020, he wrote the historical novel “The Seal of the Family – A rediscovered past”, published by the Gruppo Albatros Il Filo publishing house in Rome.
Michelangelo, you wrote a historical novel, The Family Seal – A rediscovered past, can you give us a brief summary and tell us where you found inspiration?
Il Sigillo di Famiglia – A past rediscovered, traces the history of an ancient and noble Sicilian family, whose members, over the centuries, have contributed to great changes in Italy and Europe. A curious interweaving of relatives links this family to the 35th president of the United States and to the Grimaldi Princes of the Principality of Monaco. The book tells the story through a young member of the family who is entrusted with an old manuscript with all the historical memories of the family and with singular anecdotes concerning the various characters: court officials, knights of Malta, a cardinal, a saint and even a dissolute lady-in-waiting. A wonderful villa and a manuscript, continuously updated, are the ideas that give life to this intriguing novel that takes the reader for a walk among tapestries, ancient seals and old memories that time has failed to erase. I was inspired to write this novel because, having grown up in the United States, every time I returned to Italy to visit my relatives, I found myself, as a pastime, listening to pleasant anecdotes about some important characters in my family. This kind of fascinated me and stimulated me to know a little more about them. So, to satisfy my longing for knowledge of my heritage, I set about researching various historical archives. All of this turned out to be a very fun and exciting game as it helped me to get to know the existential memories of some of my most famous ancestors and also to understand many things about myself. I discovered adventurous, tortuous and sometimes even rough stories.
But the episode, which perhaps most of all triggered the spark, happened many years ago when I came across a French article which told the story of my ancestor, the Cardinal Tommaso Arezzo. I was amazed to discover how in France, unlike Italy, he is a well-known and much-studied historical figure. This discovery gave birth to a strong sense of revenge and a desire to make the life of all my ancestors known, not only in Italy, but also in the rest of the world. Over the past 20 years I have discovered many other characters and stories that have fascinated me and that I could not include in my book.
Can you tell us about the research you did for the book in the State Archives and how you incorporated it into your writing?
In the State Archives I felt in direct contact with the past. For example, while reading through some documents concerning Cardinal Arezzo, I happened to come across his Testament and it was really exciting to discover how many of the objects that belonged to him are still owned by my family. It was a great emotion to discover the origins of various objects, where they were bought or from whom they were received, as well as various vicissitudes and pleasant anecdotes related to some of them. This allowed me to reconnect their distant past to the present in an uninterrupted continuity, as if time had not continued to flow, similar to a mechanically wound watch which, having finished ticking, resumes a new charge with a simple turn of the hands. and make up for lost time. It is therefore no coincidence that in the novel they are above all the emotions and feelings experienced during the discoveries made in the State Archives to emerge with more emphasis, rather than the simple transcription of data, historical information or other.
Are there any personal experiences or events that influenced the development of the characters in your book?
The passion and love I have for my family history has somewhat influenced the development of the characters in the book. Above all, I wanted to highlight those ancestors, men and women who, in a small or large way, made a concrete contribution not only to the history of Italy, but also to Europe. Since I was a child I have always had a strong predisposition for these characters.
Your book has received various awards including the ′′ Golden Shield Grand Prix in the 2020 literary section ′′ of the Heraldic Studies Center in Verona and the ′′ Critics Award ′′ at the 2021. City of Cattolica Literary Award. What do they mean to you?
I am truly very proud to have received these prestigious awards. I am very honored to have been the first and so far the only one in the history of the literary award of the Centro Studi Araldici di Verona to have won this prestigious recognition with a novel, as the competition has always been reserved for other narrative fields that contribute to the promotion of heraldry, especially of an academic nature such as degree theses.
How has your work been received, both within the Italian-American community and in the wider literary world?
The critics have been very favourable. The book has also met with considerable success among the Italian-American community, which has always been eager to learn about the land of their ancestors. My greatest wish is that the book can be a dissemination tool to bring fame and interest to the city of Ragusa, Sicily and all of Italy. Statistics regarding electronic copies sold abroad show very encouraging results. However, I am convinced that much more could be done with further promotional initiatives and especially with a translation of the book into English. The screenplay reduction for an international film adaptation has also recently been completed. I would like to add that I am completing a second novel, as a sequel to the first, which should be released in April 2023.
You are American of Italian descent. How important are her roots to her?
Each of us should find our meaning and meaning in life through discovering our roots and family history. I am very proud of having Italian origins and I believe that Italians in general have many reasons to be proud. This is why I am very sorry when I see Italians with the bad habit of speaking ill of their country. Instead, I am happy when I see so many famous foreigners of Italian origin who would like to return to the villages of their parents and grandparents to taste the gastronomy and the scenic and cultural splendor that Italy offers.
I had the pleasure of interviewing her thanks to the suggestion of the tenor Jonathan Cilia Faro who, when we talked about the promotion of the Bel Paese and Italian excellence, immediately thought of her. italiani.it rewards meritocracy, is there a young person that you would like to sponsor, that you would mentor, who could be an example for Italians in the world?
Luigi Spoletini, an excellence who has worked in the direction of some of the most popular films, including: The Core (2003); The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004); Mission Impossible III (2006); Point Break (2015); John Wick (2017); Aquaman (2018); Give Me Back My Wife! (2021); Believe me (2022) and many more.
