Vittoria Aganoor (1855–1910)

Vittoria Aganoor was born in Padua, Italy, to an Italian mother and a father from an Armenian noble family. During her childhood in Padua and Venice, many Italian artists and writers such as Andrea Maffei and Antonio Fogazzaro visited their home. In 1876, the family moved to Naples, where she met Enrico Nencioni, a poet and literary critic who helped her with her poetry. From time to time, she published her lyrics in literary magazines, attracting praise. However, for the most part, she showed her work only to family and friends until age 45, when she publish her first collection of poems, Leggenda eterna (1900). In 1901, she married Guido Pompilj, a writer and politician who later became Undersecretary of State. Together they were at the center of cultural and diplomatic circles. She died suddenly following surgery at age 54 in 1910.