Giacomo Puccini - Marriage and Affairs

Marriage and Affairs

In the autumn of 1884, Puccini began a relationship with a married woman named Elvira Gemignani (née Bonturi) in Lucca. Elvira's husband, Narisco Gemignani, was an "unrepentant womanizer", and Elvira's marriage was not a happy one. Elvira became pregnant by Puccini, and their son, Antonio, was born in 1886. Elvira left Lucca when the pregnancy began to show, and gave birth elsewhere to avoid gossip. Elvira, Antonio and Elvira's daughter by Narisco, Fosca began to live with Puccini shortly afterwards. Narisco was killed by the husband of a woman that Narisco had an affair with, dying on February 26, 1903. Only then were Puccini and Elvira able to marry, and to legitimize Antonio.

The marriage between Puccini and Elvira was also troubled by infidelity, as Puccini had frequent affairs himself, including well-known singers such as Maria Jeritza, Emmy Destinn, Cesira Ferrani, and Hariclea Darclée.

In 1909, Puccini's wife Elvira publicly accused Doria Manfredi, a maid working for the Puccini family, of having an affair with the composer. According to documents found in the possession of a descendant of the Manfredi family, Nadia Manfredi, in 2007, Puccini was actually having an affair with Giulia Manfredi, Doria's cousin. Press reports at the time when these documents were discovered alleged that Nadia Manfredi was Puccini's granddaughter, by a son, Antonio Manfredi, born to Giulia. After being publicly accused of adultery, Doria Manfredi committed suicide. An autopsy determined, however, that Doria had died a virgin, refuting the allegations made against her. Elvira Puccini was prosecuted for slander, and was sentenced to more than five months in prison. Because of a payment to the Manfredi family by Puccini, Elvira was spared having to serve the sentence. Some music critics and interpreters of Puccini's work have speculated that the psychological effects of this incident on Puccini interfered with his ability to complete compositions later in his career, and also influenced the development of Puccinian characters such as Liu (from Turandot), a slave girl who dies tragically by suicide.