Lanfranco Rasponi | |
|---|---|
 Lanfranco Rasponi (center) with Lillian Gish and Ramon Novarro at the Sagittarius Gallery Fabrizio Clerici exhibition in 1955 | |
| Born | Lanfranco Dwight Rasponi Dalle Teste 11 December 1914 Florence, Italy |
| Died | 9 April 1983 (aged 68) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Nationality | Italian |
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Lanfranco Rasponi (11 December 1914 – 9 April 1983) was an Italian author, critic, and publicist. He is primarily known for his writing on opera and opera singers, especially his 1982 book, The Last Prima Donnas. Born in Florence, he was the son of an Italian aristocrat and an American mother. From the late 1940s to the early 1960s Rasponi was the publicity agent for many opera singers as well as for socialites and fashionable restaurants in New York City. For a while, he also owned the Sagittarius Gallery in Manhattan which specialised in introducing contemporary European artists. After a financial scandal in 1963, he left the United States for Italy and dedicated himself to writing. He spent his last years in Rio de Janeiro where he died at the age of 68.