THE CHARACTERS

Sara Mazzei

Born 10/09/1986
in Portoferraio.

Only child. Elban father, mother from Lucca.
After high school she studied archeology at the University of Pisa, graduating with honours. She attended a specialization course in Paris where she would have liked to stay if she had not won a competition as a museum guide where she was assigned to Portoferraio. Nevertheless, she maintained her contacts in Paris with the idea of finding, sooner or later, a good working opportunity to return. She collaborated with the museum of Marciana during her thesis.

She is a perfectionist, very fussy and yearns for control over others.
This character causes her to be strict with herself and excel in everything she does, but also not to make herself liked when it comes to teamwork. Her friends and fellow teammates of volleyball, a sport she practiced with passion until she was 18 years old, know about this. But she is very honest in human relations, sincere, direct and never subtle. Those who are able to really get in touch with her can appreciate her and establish a strong bond.

Sara has known Leonardo since they were children. They first met in the mines of Capoliveri, an organized tour which was attended by all the nursery schools of the island. Back and forth at the time of high school, then later the two lost touchduring the university years only to meet each other againonce theyboth returned to Elba.

Living together for a year.
The hardest thing was having to accept Leo – and especially his dog – Sabrino, the cat Sarah.
Sara’s decision to leave for France put their relationship in turmoil.

Sports: swimming, skin diving

Hobbies: collecting biographies and antique prints depicting Napoleon Bonaparte; buying handbags and medieval shoes

Favorite Movie: Dead Poets Society

Favourite dishes: stoccafisso alla riese (a typical Tuscan Island fish dish), gurguglione (a typical Elban vegetable dish) and her favourite dessert is corollo (a Tuscan lemon cake)

The object that is most sentimental to her: a pearl necklace that was left to her by her maternal grandmother.

Favourite flower: The wild Elba orchid in which she admires in the Tuscan Archipelago National Park.

Sara’s best friends:
Giuliano Soldifrom Unzipo’, lives and makesmedieval footwear and bags, that Sarah is madly in love with, in Marciana as well as the wonderful Marina Sala cashmere sweaters. Silvia Boano, who is actually the new owner of a Portoferraio bookshop and occupies a special place in her heart, has an amazing selection of books and publications on Elba and the archipelago. The bookshop is also a meeting place, art gallery and concert hall, meanwhile you can read or choose books, newspapers and magazines. It is in this bookshop that Sarah bought her first archeology book that would change her life. And she is particularly attached to Laura Pagliantini, Luisa ZitoandLuisa Quaglia, an archaeologistsof the group Archecolor which currently manages the Villa Romana delle Grotte on the Island of Elba. They met in an excavation in 2009 in Populonia during a study project on extracting, processing and marketing of iron from Elba in the Etruscan period. At the beginning there wasn’t a sparkle between them, but now have become great friends.

Leonardo Puccini

Born 25/01/1984
in Capoliveri

The youngest of three brothers. From Capoliveri, even though his paternal grandparents are from Pomonte.
Secondary school diploma with specialisation in science on the island, he did two years of architecture in Florence and then returned to his beloved Elba. In the end, architecture was not for him. He has always loved sports and life in the outdoors, so he decided to get involved and turn this passion into his work by becoming a nature guide. Furthermore, he knows every single detail and anecdote of the island, even the most ancient traditions passed on to him by his maternal grandfather, and is able to convey this love to the tourists that he accompanies.

He loves canoeing, trekking and biking. In football, however, he is a slouch. Simply ask his friends from football who will do anything to not have him in the team. Nevertheless, he is very popular and has many friends. He is generous, sincere, unselfish, and always ready to lend a hand. He is less inclined to reflect, however, and to use his head in reality.

Ama la canoa, il trekking e il biking. A calcio, invece, èuna schiappa. Basta chiedere agli amici di calcetto, che fanno di tutto per non averlo in squadra. Ciononostante, èmolto popolare e ha moltissimi amici. E’generoso, schietto e altruista, sempre pronto a dare una mano. Poco incline a riflettere, però, e a usare il cervello quando ètoccato sul vivo.

He has always known Sara and been in love with her. He has had other relationships, but nothing significant. He has a dog named Gombi, a good and very timid mutt, fond of Sara but the victim of harassment from her cat.

A blood donor and volunteer in a home for the elderly in Rio dell’Elba.

Sports: biking, hiking, canoeing and any activities in contact with nature

Hobbies: nature photography

Favorite Movie: Back to the Future

Favorite dishes: boiled octopus, bonito with stuffed olives and sardines, which he is particularly fond of. His true passion is Schiacciabriaca from Rio Elba, which he relishes every weekend, accompanied by half a glass of Aleatico D.O.C.wine.

The object that is most sentimental to him: an old pair of dark glasses which he always brings with him.

Favourite flower:the red and marine cistus and lilies fromMonte Capanne

Leonardo’s best friends:Stefano Luzzetti, Elban environmental guide , practically a brother to Leonardo, almost completely sharing the same philosophy of life. Sara Esposito, the new slow food trustee, who raises sheep and makes cheese as it once was and Luca Giusti, an environmental guide, leading the kids around on a mule in Marina di Campo. Leonardo is particularly fond of Gabriele Messina, who produces traditional desserts at Lido of Capoliveri, collecting the antique recipes from the elderly in the village. Leonardo invites friends to brunch which areorganized once a month.

Thesan

The name Thesan occurs in Etruscan tradition associated with the Divinity of Aurora.
In archaic images she is often depicted with wings on her back and winged shoes, which were lost elements in later representations. In addition to being associated with dawn she is often referred to as a generator of life and a symbol of fertility.

And in this second meaning whichis attached to some Etruscan references of Elban origin: representations and traditions in which the deity seems to rise to a more important role, a sort of tutelary deity of the entire island and all the living creatures on it.

In particular, it is clear from the collected material, the belief about a unique pantheon grouping known as Spiriti delle Terre Emerse, complementary to the Spiriti delle Acque e dell’Aria. Among these, indeed, Thesan, patron deity of Elba.

From the dawn of time the spirit of Thesan welcomes visitors on the Island of Elba and takes care of them.

Il Tiranno(The Tyrant)

Among the ancient civilizations,the Etruscan, even today, is the most mysterious. In the myths and cults, his origins have been reconstructed partiallyand controversially.
Among the most interesting mysteries, a mythological figure stands out in a few findings – some rock paintings and little else – called the Tyrant.
The appellation, the Tyrant, goes back to a period between 390 and 360 AD.
The main difficulty lies in the damnation of memory that seems to have hit this subject. The paintings were censored, the name itself is the result of reconstruction at the limit of sci-archeology, so that the few remaining scholars to deepen the question are accused of romantic amateurism from the rest of the community.

The Tyrant would seem to be attributed to the same pantheon of “Spiriti delle Terre Emerse,” a benevolent deity similar to Thesan. The legends tell of a triggering event, however, that would have upset his nature, transforming him into a fierce and abominable creature. Fragmented words such as “independence”, “submission” and “war” are alternated in enrollment without providing a unique trace. All, however, agree in order to reconstruct the end of the Tyrant: fragmented and imprisoned in an abyss in which was placed a seal of iron.

L’Incappucciato (The Hooded)

The Hooded is a mythical figure that is described in the oral tradition, as the emissary of the Tyrant. No depictions have come down to us, but the stories tell of a huge figure in a human monstrous-looking form, with a shaggy beard and eyes that look spirited and he is hooded (from which it takes its name) and wears dark color tunic clothes.

According to the legend there is the leader of the Dark, an esoteric sect voted to impose the will of the Tyrant over men and to combat all forms of possible independence of humanity through the dissemination of terror.

Napoleone Bonaparte

Almost everything has been said about Napoleon. His life has been analyzed in depth.
Born in Ajaccio on August 15, 1769. The particulars on the time of his birth are conflicting, 11:28, 11:30, 13:13, 9:50 or 9:45. Based on this different information various horoscopes have been compiled to try to give an interpretation of his personality.

Tyrant or liberator? A figure full of contradictions. Rivers of ink have been spilled on his figure.
His controversial personality has been studied through the analysis of his statements.

I have no ambition … or if I have, it is so natural, so innate and so deeply rooted in me, for to be like the blood that flows in my veins, like the air that I breathe … I never have to fight, nor them or against them because they follow the same set of circumstances and similarities of my ideas.

Since the triumph of the fall there is only one step. In the most important cases I have always seen nothing to decide of major events.

We ask ourselves why uncertain misfortunes still affect us much more than disasters that have already happened. It is because, in the imagination as in the calculation, the strength of the unknown is immeasurable.

It would be interesting to question the emperor’s state of mind during his exile on Elba.
Did he have a correct perception of his condition? When he decided to escape and return to Europe, did he truly believe he could take over the reins of history or was he, rather, a dramatically proud man to go to meet his fate? The ambitions that, in his words, he could have made it, after all, a prisoner of himself even before that of the English.
There is no indication of whether Napoleon was ever able to reflect in his own life, in the blood spilled on the battlefield, and to understand the profound difference that runs between Power and Liberty.
But a young Elban of our times, a little tyrant struggling with small ambitions and small egos, could – thanks to the experience of Napoleon – discover the real mistakes. And Napoleon himself to obtain, through her, his redemption.
To rewrite together a History of Independence and of true Freedom.