Jolanda

Maria Majocchi, also spelled Maiocchi (23 April 1864 – 8 August 1917), was an Italian writer, journalist, and publisher. She wrote under several Pseudonyms, the most common being Jolanda, Viola d'Alba, and Margheritina di Cento.

Biography

Majocchi was the daughter of musician and politician Antonio Majocchi (1831–1907)[1], one-time mayor of Cento, and his wife Lavinia Agnoletti (1839–1911), who had a rich literary, linguistic, and musical background. Majocchi had two sisters, Clementina Laura (known by her pseudonym Bruna) and Gabriella.

Majocchi was a writer, journalist, and editor. In 1882, she published under the pseudonym Jolanda, which she borrowed from a character in the opera Una Partita a Scacchi ("A Game of Chess") by Giuseppe Giacosa.

Author

Majocchi was very knowledgeable in the English language. At 17, Majocchi was known for translating stories in the magazine Maccies Model from French to Italian.

Majocchi also subscribed to some Italian magazines, but one in particular attracted her attention: Cordelia. Cordelia was published from 1881 to 1884 by Angelo de Gubernatis, who would become Majocchi's lifelong friend and collaborator. In Cordelia's first issue, De Gubernatis invited his young readers to send "a little thing done there" to the editorial staff for publication. Majocchi responded immediately with her first poetic sketch, "Il fior della ventura" (The Flower of Fortune), which was published under her first pseudonym, Margheritina di Cento, on 12 February 1882. After her initial publication, she was a regular contributor to the magazine with a fixed starting salary of 5 lire per page. Her signature appeared at the bottom of each piece.