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Laura Bon
(1825–1904)

Biographical

A stage actress, Laura made her debut when she was a child with the Carlo Goldoni company, her father being one of its directors. She began to enjoy success as a teenager after replacing another actress at the last moment who had fallen ill before starring in the role of the king in Casimir Delavigne's Children of Edward IV. At the age of sixteen she joined the company of Zocchi at Milan; at twenty, she was the first actress at the Pisenti and Solmi company; she was afterwards hired by the De Rossi company, and in 1847 received much acclaim for her role in Dumas' Thérèse at the Teato Re Vecchio, in Milan. She was by now enjoying great success as an actress, and in 1847 she rejoined her father's company to appear in a number of productions. In 1844, she had caught the attention of King Vittorio Emanuele II at Casale Monferrato, and after his ascension to the throne of Italy, he saw her again during a performance of Battaglia's Luisa Strozzi at the National Theatre of Turin. At the King's insistence, she left abandoned her acting career, they began an affair. She was housed at the castle of Moncalieri, living separately from him, and gave birth to a daughter in 1853, Emanuela, who died soon afterwards. The relationship lasted until the King began an affair with Rosa Vercellana, and a bitter rivalry ensued, with Laura soon being forced to leave Piedmont. She resumed her acting career and took on managerial roles for theatre companies, particularly with those of Rossi and Gattinelli. She was still very much in demand and was praised as an actress, but she was unable to return to Piedmont to work in the larger theatre companies in Turin and Genoa, and had to settle for smaller companies in other areas. She went to Florence in 1858, joining the Pagnini company, and appeared at the Politeama fiorentino and the Teatro Nuovo in the title role of Niccolini's Medea. Her performance reviewed by the critic Martini was not entirely positive, and more political, and he attributed her success to her connection to the King. Laura then went on to perform at the Theater in der Josephstadt in Vienna, and Martini alleged that she was sent as a mediator for the King to secure an alliance with Austria to eventually annex the Veneto. She then appeared at the Teatro a Ponte Nuovo in Naples in 1865 in Medea and received much acclaim from critics and the public alike. She was finally allowed to perform at Genoa, and continued on to Trieste, and then in Turin. Again it was alleged that she was appointed to another diplomatic mission, this time in Paris, to reveal to Napoleon III the secret intentions of Chancellor Bismarck's plans over the issue of Rome. Afterwards, Laura returned to Florence, and there she saw the King for the last time at the Pitti Palace. From then on, the quality of her life began to deteriorate as she faced financial problems, despite the royal pension she received, and income from her work. She did not possess resourcefulness in that regard, and instead, began to sell her treasured possessions, and contended herself to work in humble, and sometimes squalid, theatres. Towards the end of her life, she was relying on charity to live. Her character was described as being of a vain, naive, and bizarre nature, but she was considered an intelligent woman, with a penchant for a lavish lifestyle. Her memoirs were published in 1909, but are considered unreliable.

Place of birth: Turin
Place of death: Campo San Fantin, Venice

Daughter of Francesco Augusto and Luigia Ristori-Bellotti. She had illegitimate issue by King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy (Savoy).

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