Sophia Loren Biography

Name:Sophia Loren
Place of Birth:Clinica Regina Margherita 
                      Rome


Sophia was born in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, in a charity ward for unmarried women, in 1934. The name entered in the hospital records was Sofia Scicolone. Sophia Loren father Riccardo Scicolone officially recognized the child, but refused to marry the mother of Sophia, Romilda Villani. Sophia Loren birth brought a disgrace and humiliation to the family of Villanis in the little town of Pozzuoli, located about twenty-five kilometer from Naples. Having illegitimate baby was one of the severest sins at that time. But according to her own words, Romilda Villani was a fighter. “…I fought for myself and my baby. And my family stood by me. That is what saved us, the way the Villanis embraced us.” 

When Sophia was six, war came to Pozzuoli with the German occupation. Loren still has vivid memories of these years. 

“When I was a child, fear was common to my life – fear of having nothing to eat, fear of the other children taunting me at school because I was illegitimate, and particularly fear of the big bombers appearing overhead and dropping their lethal burst from the sky.” (“Sophia. Living and Loving. Sophia Loren Own Story by 

A. E. Hotchner). Sophia Loren carried the feeling of being “little, shy, illegitimate, fatherless girl” inside her for a long time. 

Sophia Loren Grandmother Luisa (Sophia called her “mamma”, and her mother - “mammina”) shaped her personality. When they were alone in the kitchen, grandma Luisa changed from a busy housewife overburdened with worries, to someone very funny and carefree. Sophia Lorenmade up stories about how wonderful the life of Sophia would be: full of the dream objects and beauty. Sophia Loren created in the mind of a girl the fairyland of tomorrow…