born on 21 december del 1898
Margherita Lampertico was born on 21 December 1898. Her parents were Elisa Porto Godi
and Domenico Lampertico: they had eight children, and she was the youngest daughter. She
belonged to the Lampertico family, which was very respected in the history of the Vicenza
nobility, the very same family of Senator Fedele, with an aristocratic tradition and great
culture.
At that time, well-off families did not enjoy Fortune's goods in idleness. On the
contrary, they were interested in agriculture and economics. They studied and loved art
and the humanities, and lived a harmonious life cultivating the pleasure of beauty. Their
moral life was directed by a strong religious feeling, but religion did not exclude a
cheerful way of living, and the liveliness with satirycal sparks typical of the
intelligence and temperament of the people from Veneto.
The Lampertico family belonged to the employers' class and were experienced in farms,
attentive to the industrial development and considered as the new ruling class of
Valdagno.
The abbot Giacomo Zanella often went to their house. He was the poet who expressed in
his verse the kindness of customs, the unbiased judgement and the warmth of that
intelligent and well-balanced society.
Margherita Lampertico, in her feminine modesty, deserved the name that other people had
had so honourably: her mother died when she was only five years old, and in spite of her
father's great affection, she really missed her mother's love. This regret during her
youth probably resulted in her motherly passion, and her dedication to her children, which
was the dominant character and the main goal of her life, together with charity.
She had breathed a religious sense of life in her family. Religion was not
considered a hereditary obligation, a social etiquette, or a colour of her status,
but a need of the spirit, aiming at a more generous interpretation of man's destiny,
according to which living is not meaningless.
In her lively youth, she was always ready to smile, and was a gifted person, both in
her physical appearance and her nature. She distinguished herself for the total absence of
frivolity, and was one of those neat and determined souls that conceive life as a
discipline, capable of conveying meaning and beauty to the vanity of days and events.
Her childhood games were the signs of her vocation. She liked playing with a small
kitchen, dressing dolls, cradling and loving them very much. She particularly liked one of
her dolls, which she always guarded jealously. She secretly took it with her to her
new house when she got married, and gave it to her first daughter as a present. It was the
symbol of her family's continuity and of a heritage of kind thoughts.
In the meantime, the governess initiated her into studying at home, especially foreign
languages. Later on, she was educated at the Vicenza "Dame Inglesi" college, the
reputation of which was known on the national level.
When Italy entered World War One she was 17. This event created a tragic atmosphere in
her simple way of living, which was serene, and based on family affection and ties, as
well as on the awareness of one's duty towards the poor people. Consequently, she stopped
embroidering and started knitting. She sent her works directly to the front, following the
instructions she had received from her four brothers who were called to serve their
Country.
With modesty, she did not put her surname on the parcels, she only indicated her name:
Margherita. The soldiers who received the packets had only that beautiful name about which
they could daydream, and bless the person who did not ask to be thanked, but who contented
herself with having done her duty.
Then, the Lamperticos' villa was occupied by the soldiers, but the family had reserved
part of it in order to spend the summer months there. The blond lady with blue eyes
and a pure smile mingled with the soldiers to comfort them with her witty conversation and
her kindness. What was of paramount interest to her was visiting wounded or ill soldiers
in hospitals, where her grace and goodheartedness brought a sense of relief and brotherly
affection to the soldiers. When one of them, often an unknown soldier, died without anyone
next to him, the sister with eyes as blue as the sky was never missing behind the poor
coffin, and her presence was a living flower of poetry that rendered death less sad.
Margherita, who was called “good Mrs. Margherita” with admiration and nearly
familiar warmth by many people, lived for her children. The people who saw her in her
house, when she was a bride and a mother, will not be able to forget how much energy and
warmth there was in the woman with the delicate figure. Her joy, and her reason for living
was to be surrounded by her children, looking after each and every one of them according
to their age and temperament, joining their games, thus becoming a young girl once again,
with a smile that cast light on everything that was close to her. Her soul rejoiced under
the calm and simple appearance that her modesty gave her.
On the other hand, beside her care for the children, she also looked after the poor
people as a form of inner happiness, just to please herself. Helping other people, and
giving did not only mean following a rule of Christianity, but also satisfying her
generous nature. Although the person who was helped rejoiced at Mrs. Marzotto’s
actions, the benefactor was the most delightful of the two, since she could give some
relief to an oppressed person, some serenity to a sad person, and brighten the flame of
hope in a desperate person. When a child cried in a poor house, her heart cried too.
Offering protection effectively, and wiping away the tears of sad people was her daily
goal, and often her secret.
Although she did not like showing off, and took little pleasure in worldliness, she was
aware of the fact that even social relations might be useful; Mrs. Margherita knew how to
behave as Mrs. Marzotto, with her refined upbringing and good taste.
She had a deep insight, and knew how to detect the people’s qualities and defects,
she had an unbiased judgement of the people, and her heart rejoiced when she liked them.
She took care of the others all her life long, and was comforted and pleased in diffusing
the warmth and love of her soul around her.
Nevertheless, life also caused her much pain: one of her eight children, Domenico, was
born with a serious malformation against which the doctors could do nothing. God had given
her many children glowing with health and had surrounded her with the comforts of wealth,
but He had also inflicted a torture on her: having an unhappy child who was not even aware
of his condition. This grief was a daily torment for her.
Unfortunately, when she was still young, the shadow of death appeared in her life. She
gathered her children, who were one of her main reasons of living, and thanks to whom
living had been so nice for her, sweetly gave them some advice, and bravely
comforted them. In her eyes and words, maternal love was the last flame still burning, as
if she was trying to defeat death.
One of her children was not close to her deathbed. However, with considerable certainty
she said: “Do not worry about Domenico, I will take care of him.” While she
worried about all the others and wanted to provide for them, she had a special thought for
her unhappy son.
Eight days after her mother’s death, little Domenico also died. Perhaps Margherita
had asked God the only possible grace, that he could join her. A sense of a miracle moved
all the people who had heard her last words, or maybe the miracle was in the secret of the
faint vitality of that child, who felt her mother’s love as a blind person feels the
warmth of the sun.
The same was true also for Margherita Marzotto, the noble woman who had lived the short
years of her life like a task to be completed before sunset.
Translation of a text written in Italian by the members of
U3A Vicenza
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