Gina Lollobrigida Funeral: Iconic Actress To Be Laid To Rest In Birthplace Of Subiaco After Ceremony In Rome

19.01.2023 - 19:39 / deadline.com

Italian big-screen diva Gina Lollobrigida was due to be laid to rest in her native hilltop town of Subiaco, after a televised funeral ceremony on Thursday at the Church of the Artists in nearby Rome.

The actress’s only son Milko Skofic, grandson Dimitri and Spanish ex-husband Javier Rigau were among those in attendance alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Cultural Under-Secretary Vittorio Sgarbi as well as film and entertainment world figures Mara Venier, Milly Carlucci, Adriano Aragozzini, Daniel McVicar, Giulio Base and Barbara Bouchet.

The actress’s long-time personal assistant Andrea Piazzolla, who was caught up in a legal battle with Skofic at the time of Lollobrigida’s battle over control of her finances, was also present with his parents.

The burial comes just five days after Lollobrigida’s death on January 16 at the age of 95 years old. Her coffin has been laying in state at the Campidoglio in Rome since then.

Her death has prompted an outpouring of tributes and grief in Italy, with Sophia Loren declaring she was “profoundly shaken and saddened by the news. She was not present at the funeral.

Lollobrigida, who hit the height of her fame in 1950s and 60s, was known affectionately as the “Bersagliera” in Italy, for her breakout role in Luigi Comencini’s 1953 romantic comedy Bread, Love And Dreams, as a determined young woman girl who attracts the unwanted attention of a womanizing retired army captain.

Hundreds of well-wishers flocked to the church overlooking Rome’s Piazza del Popolo to watch as the coffin arrived to military fanfare and applause.

The priest overseeing the mass in Rome talked about how Lollobrigida had met the late Mother Teresa Of Calcutta and financially supported the nun’s work