Eleonora Chiavarelli

Italian women and wife of Aldo Moro (1915–2010)

Eleonora Chiavarelli

Born| 1915 (1915)

Montemarciano, Kingdom of Italy

Died| 18 July 2010(2010-07-18) (aged 94–95)

Rome, Italy

Burial place| Torrita Tiberina
Spouse|

Aldo Moro

(m. 1945; murdered 1978)​

Children| 4
Chiavarelli, Aldo Moro and their children with Pope Paul VI

Eleonora Chiavarelli (1915 – 18 July 2010) was an Italian woman who was the spouse of Aldo Moro, a politician who was kidnapped and murdered in 1978.

## Biography

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Chiavarelli was born in 1915 in Montemarciano.[1][2] Her father was a physician.[3] During World War II Chiavarelli worked in the Italian Red Cross.[2]

Chiavarelli was part of an active youth organization, Italian Catholic Federation of University Students, during her university studies.[4] She married Aldo Moro in Montemarciano on 5 April 1945.[4][5] They had four children, three daughters and a son: Maria Fida, Agnese, Anna and Giovanni.[4][6] The family spent summer holidays at their home in Terracina from 1960.[7]

Her husband, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped by a terrorist group, Red Brigades, in Rome on the morning of 16 March 1978, and his corpse was found there on 9 May 1978.[8] Following the death of Aldo Moro she did not accept the proposal of organizing a state funeral for him.[6][9] The family organized a private funeral ceremony which was attended only by a small number of family members and friends on 10 May.[10] It was Moro's request which he had written in one of his letters during his captivity.[10] He was buried in Torrita Tiberina, near Rome.[8] Chiavarelli did not attend the state funeral for Aldo Moro held in the Church of San Giovanni in Laterano on 13 May.[11][12]

In her later years Chiavarelli lived in Montemarciano and in Sanctuary of NS dei Lumi di Alberici.[1] She died in Rome on 18 July 2010 at the age of 95.[2][6] She was buried in Torrita Tiberina besides her husband's grave on 19 July.[13][14] Her eldest child, Maria Fida, did not attend the funeral ceremony.[15]

### In popular culture

[edit]

In an Italian crime movie, The Moro Affair, directed by Giuseppe Ferrara in 1986, Eleonora Chiavarelli was featured by Spanish actress Margarita Lozano.[16]

In Marco Bellocchio's 2022 film Exterior Night, Chiavarelli was portrayed by Margherita Buy.[17][18]

## References

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1. ^ a b "1978-2018 Montemarciano ricorda Aldo Moro". Montemarciano News. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
2. ^ a b c "Eleonora Moro". The Times. No. 70009\. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
3. ^ David Moss (2017). "Prelude: 'A Long Preparation for Death'? The Life of Aldo Moro, 1916–1978". In Ruth Glynn; Giancarlo Lombardi (eds.). Remembering Aldo Moro: The Cultural Legacy of the 1978 Kidnapping and Murder. Abingdon; New York: Legenda. p. 20\. ISBN 978-1-351-55153-3.
4. ^ a b c Richard Drake (1995). The Aldo Moro Murder Case. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 6\. ISBN 978-0-674-01481-7.
5. ^ "Montemarciano: 75 anni fa Aldo Moro si sposava nella frazione di Alberici con Eleonora Chiavarelli". Vivere Senigallia (in Italian). 5 April 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
6. ^ a b c "Scomparsa la vedova di Moro-Funerali oggi a Torrita Tiberina". Positano News (in Italian). 19 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
7. ^ Sari Gilbert (10 September 1978). "Moro Murder Darkens Mood at Party's Annual Festival". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
8. ^ a b Paolo Heywood (2009). "The Two Burials of Aldo Moro: Sovereignty and Governmentality in the anni di piombo". The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology. 29 (3): 1–28. JSTOR 23820821.
9. ^ "Eleonora Chiavarelli, moglie di Aldo Moro". Il Sussidiario (in Italian). 9 May 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
10. ^ a b David Moss (1981). "The kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro". European Journal of Sociology. 22 (2): 279–280. doi:10.1017/s0003975600003726. S2CID 145234617.
11. ^ Tobias Abbe (2007). "The Moro Affair: Interpretations and Consequences". In Stephen Gundle; Lucia Rinaldi (eds.). Assassinations and Murder in Modern Italy Transformations in Society and Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 98–99. doi:10.1057/9780230606913_8. ISBN 978-0-230-60691-3.
12. ^ Umberto Gentiloni Silveri (2022). The History of Contemporary Italy 1943-2019. Italian and Italian American Studies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 162\. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-14364-9. ISBN 978-3-031-14364-9. S2CID 253155461.
13. ^ "Scomparsa la vedova di Moro Contestò la "linea della fermezza"". La Repubblica (in Italian). 19 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
14. ^ "Widow of Aldo Moro dies aged 94". Times of Malta. AFP. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
15. ^ "E' morta Eleonora, la vedova di Aldo Moro". Ansa. Torrita Tiberina; Rome. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
16. ^ Katherine Greenburg Gilliom (2016). Searching for truth: Constructing a collective memory of Aldo Moro in Italian cinema (PhD thesis). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. p. 53\. doi:10.17615/ppm7-0r96.
17. ^ "Bellocchio: "'Outside Night' engaging story without court intentions"". Italian Post (in Italian). 3 November 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
18. ^ James Panichi (2 May 2023). "Memento Moro: James Panichi reviews Exterior Night". Inside Story. Retrieved 16 September 2023.

*[m.]: married