One year ago, January 16, Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida passed away. ‘La Lollo’ died at the age of 95, leaving a deep void in the hearts of those who knew her and also in the world of entertainment in Italy. Now, a year after her departure, Javier Rigau, her widower, wanted to remember her through an open letter published in Vanitatis.
Gina enchanted the generation of the 50s with her exuberant beauty, developed a long career in Technicolor Hollywood, worked with the biggest stars of the time and managed to become a successful photographer in her adulthood after leaving the sets. Multifaceted and elegant, Gina captured the hearts of many, but especially that of Rigau, who, a year later, continues to remember all the moments they lived together.
“I have always been a positive person and that is how I plan to continue being throughout my life. As I have done until now, I am going to remember all the good moments lived with her,” the letter begins. “I would have preferred to continue enjoying our eternal relationship privately, but that could not be when Gina – with all the right in the world – began to propose marriage as a way to close the circle of our lives together,” Rigau reveals.
On the other hand, Javier has now opened up about how his relationship with the actress affected those around him, who did not quite accept the relationship. “Of all this, the only thing I regret in my soul has been the upset that our relationship caused in my family. Specifically to my mother, my father and my great-grandmother Julia,” he explains. “Surely also to other people who have loved me very much, but very far in feelings from those mentioned,” he continues explaining.
But in the end, Javier admits that he does not regret anything, since “despite everything, it was worth it and the disappointments and disagreements went away.” Furthermore, he assures that he does not hold any grudge against any of the people who did not agree with the relationship and that deep down he understands them “perfectly.”
On the other hand, Javier claims he remembers how he met Gina when he was 15 at a party in Monte Carlo, at the home of the Barons of Portanova. “As soon as she saw me, she came directly to meet me and had us introduced by the hostess. I will never forget her. She was dressed in a red suit and was a spectacular 48-year-old woman,” he says. “We were talking for quite a while until there came a time when I thought that the conversation was no longer enough. She treated me as if I were an adult and mature person,” she remembers. Subsequently, his first physical encounter occurred, and he remembers that “I couldn’t be more satisfied.”
Javier reveals in the letter that on the first anniversary of the actress’ death he went to the Subiaco church with some of the actress’s loved ones, whom he refers to as his “Italian family.” In addition, he opens up about what he feels about the woman who was his wife. “I do not sincerely believe that there has ever existed in the world of cinema a woman so eccentric that she has created a world of her own like my wife; even though I have met many of her colleagues,” he confesses in the letter.
“Now, having been left alone and having lost all the most dear people in my life, I remember them all daily with great love and affection,” he says. “I consider myself a person who has been very loved since I was a child and what keeps me alive and wanting to move forward are my countless hobbies and that not only was she a great eccentric, but the two of us got together, each more eccentric,” concludes in his emotional letter.
