Ersilia Caetani Lovatelli

Caetani-Lovatelli was born in Rome in 1840 to Michelangelo Caetani and the Polish Countess Calixta Rzewuski. Her mother was from the important Rzewuski family and the aristocratic Caetani family had featured in the history of Rome and Pisa.[1] She learnt Greek, Latin and Sanskrit and in 1859 she married Giovanni Lovatelli. Lovatelli was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, which is the oldest Italian scientific academy.[2]

When she was a widow she would open her salon at the Caetani Palace on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The salon attracted writers and composers such as Stendhal, Honoré de Balzac Nikolai Gogol and Franz Liszt. Actually the salon operated from 1870 to 1915 and her husband died in 1879. Caetani-Lovatelli was interested in archaeology and history and published papers on several subjects. Caetani-Lovatelli joined several academic societies. Around 1915 was the end of the salons in Italy as society became embroiled in the first world war.[3]

Caetani-Lovatelli died in Rome in 1925.[2]

Ersilia's work focused on Roman life, including ancient Roman dress, inscriptions, traditions, private life, and poetry. She wrote about archaeological field techniques and philology.[4]

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