Angelo Brofferio

Did a ghost haunt Angelo Brofferio, the celebrated Italian poet and politician? Here, before the monument dedicated to him in Turin, the line between fact and fiction blurs. Angelo Brofferio, a multifaceted figure of the Italian unification period, wasn’t just a politician. He was a poet, playwright, and journalist. He penned tragedies like “Su morre” and “Idomeneo”, but also comedies like “Mio cugino” and a particularly intriguing play, “Il Vampiro”. Imagine 1827, the Teatro Carignano. A hush falls over the audience as the curtain rises on Brofferio’s “Il Vampiro.” A young woman, Amalia, wastes away, pale and listless. Whispers of a vampire fill the castle. The suspected culprit? Riccardo Stanvell, her lover banished by her father for his lower social standing. But Angelo Brofferio’s vampire tale held a twist. No true creature of the night stalked Amalia. Her ailment stemmed from heartbreak, believing Riccardo dead. The play unfolds as a comedy of errors, a parody of aristocratic traditions. Riccardo returns, very much alive, to duel for Amalia’s hand. The vampire? A mere rumor, a device to expose the absurdity of social barriers. Angelo Brofferio, the “Piedmontese Béranger,” used his wit and words not just to entertain, but to challenge the status quo. He tackled issues from capital punishment to freedom of the press during his time in the Subalpine Parliament. He even clashed with Cavour, opposing his policies on the Crimean War and the transfer of the capital from Turin to Florence. Brofferio’s legacy goes beyond his literary and political works. His rebellious spirit, captured in both verse and prose, reminds us of the power of art to question and to inspire. Here, in front of this monument, we can reflect on the life of this complex figure, a man who used his pen as his sword, fighting for a unified Italy and a freer society.