Laura D'Oriano
Laura D'Oriano | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 September 1911 |
| Died | 16 January 1943 (aged 31) Forte Bravetta, Rome, Kingdom of Italy |
Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
Resting place | Campo Verano |
| Spouse |
Emil Frauholz
(m. 1931, separated) |
| Children | 2 |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | |
| Service years | 1940–1942 |
| Codename | Louise Fremont |
Laura D'Oriano (27 September 1911 – 16 January 1943) was an Italian spy for the Allies powers and the French Resistance from 1940 until she was caught in 1942 by Italian counterintelligence. Following a show trial, D'Oriano was executed by firing squad in 1943.
Early life and family
D'Oriano was born on 27 September 1911 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) to the Italian musicians, Policarpo D'Oriano and Aida Caruana.[1] The eldest of five siblings, the family moved around Europe until 1924 when they settled in Marseille.[2] Her mother ensured that the children learned Italian, and D'Oriano eventually learned to speak five languages. D'Oriano moved to Paris when she was seventeen to become a singer, but she was unsuccessful and returned to live with her family.[1]
In 1931, D'Oriano was married in Nice to a Swiss man, Emil Frauholz, the same year they met. D'Oriano and Frauholz moved to Grasse a few years later and ran a general store before moving to the Frauholz family farm in Bottighofen, Switzerland.[2] They had two daughters together, Renée and Anna.[1] D'Oriano was unhappy in Switzerland. Their family was poor, and as a foreigner she never felt welcome in the community.[2]
D'Oriano eventually left for France to work as a singer. She is commonly reported to have abandoned her family, but her daughter Anna later said it was a mutual agreement between D'Oriano and her husband, and that she occasionally visited them.[2] Frauholz went on to remarry.[1]
Spying and execution
D'Oriano's second attempt at a singing career was also unsuccessful, and she worked several jobs in France. She was recruited by Daniel Pétard in 1940 to work as a spy in exchange for protection from deportation, as she did not have a French residency permit.[1] D'Oriano began working as a spy in France and Italy where she cooperated with the Allies of World War II and the French Resistance.[2] She took the name Louise Fremont, among others, posing as a professional singer and dancer, and spoke with soldiers to collect information from them. She was eventually noticed by Italian counterintelligence, who arrested her on 17 December 1942 while on a train to visit her mother.[1]
After she was caught, D'Oriano was given a show trial[2] in Rome on 15 January 1943.[1] The trial targeted her character, accusing her of prostitution among other things. She was executed by firing squad at Forte Bravetta on 16 January 1943.[2] Her body was placed in a mass grave, but her father later recovered the body and had her buried in Campo Verano.[1]
Legacy
D'Oriano's daughter, Anna Keller, disapproved of how D'Oriano's legacy and how she is portrayed. According to Keller, descriptions of her spying are simplified, embellished, or speculative.[2]
D'Oriano was the subject of a 2010 documentary, Il caso Laura D'Oriano, directed by Andrea Adolfo Bettinetti.[1][3] She is one of the three protagonists in the historical novel The Forger, the Spy, and the Bombmaker .[2][4] D'Oriano has been compared to the spy Mata Hari.[1][3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cervia, Marinella (7 January 2020). "Chi era Laura D'Oriano, l'unica donna italiana condannata a morte e giustiziata" [Who was Laura D'Oriano, the only Italian woman sentenced to death and executed?]. Roba da Donne (in Italian).
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Osman, Ismail (28 August 2013). "Tochter der Spionin verteidigt ihre Mutter" [Daughter of spy defends her mother]. Luzerner Zeitung (in German).
- 1 2 "Il caso Laura D'Oriano - fascicolo 11936, Italia, 2010". Film Commission Torino Piemonte.
- ↑ Cathomen, Babina (30 July 2013). "Von Träumen und Irrwegen" [Of dreams and wrong turns]. Tagblatt (in German).