Evelina Cattermole

Biography

Eva Giovanna Antonietta Cattermole (26 October 1849, Florence – 30 November 1896, Rome), better known as Evelina or Lina Cattermole, was an Italian writer and poet. She also wrote novellas and other works in prose. The majority of her works are signed with the pseudonym Contessa Lara.

In her youth, Cattermole frequented several prestigious salons, before holding one of her own. Cattermole created a court of admirers around herself who adored her for her beauty and charm. In 1875, she fled Milan in shame after her then-husband killed her lover in a duel with pistols. Finding success in her literary career, Cattermole later held a musical salon in Rome that was very successful.

In the final years of her life, Cattermole was involved in an abusive romantic relationship with the painter Giuseppe Pierantoni. During a fight between them, Pierantoni shot her in the abdomen before turning the revolver on himself, injuring himself in the armpit. In 1898, Pierantoni was sentenced to imprisonment for eleven years and eight months for voluntary murder.