contessa Evelyn Lilian Hazeldine Carrington Martinengo-Cesaresco

Born Evelyn Lilian Hazeldine Carrington in 1852, she was the daughter of Henry Carrington of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. She married Count Eugenio Martinengo-Cesaresco in Rome in 1882 and became closely connected with Italy, a country that would shape much of her writing.

She is best remembered as a historian and folklorist. Her work often focused on Italian history, especially the story of national unification, and she also wrote on folklore and traditional song for a broad reading public. Among her best-known books are The Liberation of Italy, 1815–1870, Cavour, and The Place of Animals in Human Thought.

What makes her writing still appealing is its mix of learning and accessibility. She had a talent for taking serious historical and cultural subjects and presenting them in a lively, readable way, helping English-language readers discover both Italy’s political past and its rich popular traditions.