Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni (1888-1970)
Born of a prominent Italy family, Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni came to this country with her parents in 1898. Her father, Antero Zagnoni, had come to New York when he was hired as international correspondent by three leading European newspapers and assigned to cover the Spanish American war. She was 1O years old when she arrived in her new home of Brooklyn, New York; and although she spoke Italian, French and Spanish, she spoke very little English.
She often acclaimed that she, "had one glorious day in kindergarten." Thus, she was home schooled. Not only did she learn English, but she became a popular orator, speaking out on women's suffrage, women in war work, and war bonds, and later embarked on her writing career.
On July 30, 1908, she married Professor Antonio Marinoni, known by all in his career as simply, "Signor". He moved her and her mother, Maria Marzocchi Zagnoni, to Fayetteville where they lived just off the front lawn of Old Main for the rest of their lives. Professor Marinoni came to this country at the request of his parents to learn another language. He not only learned another language but graduated with a Master of Arts degree from Yale University. He came to the University of Arkansas in the 1905-06 school year and the next year founded the Romance Languages Department and was head of the department until he retired, several months before his death, in 1944.
Rosa and Antonio had four children, two died in infancy. She often said that she was the mother of "two angels" often speaking of the heartbreak of being a mother in her writings in later years. Her surviving children were; daughter Maria Stella and son, Paul Albert Marinoni, Sr. Paul Albert and Mary O'Connor Marinoni had 8 children. Rosa loved her grandchildren and doted over us at every chance. As we would enter the room, she would hold up her right hand in a gesture of dramatic greeting and announce with a thick Italian grand-dame accent, "Daaa-lings". She always wanted to make us feel special and she did.
Rosa wrote fiction and poetry from 1925-1970. She was also internationally published in eight languages and was a prominent epigrammatist. She was the poet laureate of the Ozarks, 1953-1970; and poet laureate of the Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs.
She founded Poetry Day in Arkansas on October 15, 1948, and the event was named in her honor. She was the founder of the University City Poetry Club in 1925 (The first poetry club in Arkansas and the Southwest). The club met in her home every second Sunday of the month from September to June for 45 years. She also founded the Northwest Arkansas branch of the National League of American Pen Women in May of 1952.
At the time of her death, it was stated that she had written over 5,000 poems, over 900 short stories and was published in over 60 publications.
Her house, which she designed, the Villa Rosa, at 617 W. Lafayette St. in Fayetteville, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 16, 1990. The house was deemed historically significant for "its unique architectural characteristics and for its association with Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni, a former Arkansas poet laureate and an important figure in the State's cultural history."
According to the National Register nomination, Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni "ranks as one of the premier writers the state has produced, an integral figure in the cultural history of Arkansas." Whenever she submitted her work, she always asked that Fayetteville, Arkansas, be written under her name. She was proud of her hometown and home state of Arkansas. She often related that she found the beauty of Arkansas very similar to the beauty of her home country of Italy.
In traveling to poetry events for about two decades, I was most moved by the love that poets felt for her, especially those who knew her, often confidentially emotional.
She remained active in her career, and in the promotion of writers, poets and poetry, until her death in 1970.
Paula Marinoni, granddaughter, biographer, archivist and owner of Villa Rosa is actively working on taking the legacy of Rosa and Antonio forward with republishing their work and creating the opportunity for educational outreach in the schools of Arkansas, the nation and the world.
Photos courtesy of Paula Marinoni and Guy Lancaster.
Engagement photo of Professor Antonio Marinoni and Rosa Zagnoni c. 1907-08.
Photo of Villa Rosa 2024
Photo of portrait painted by Anita Swanson Gish of Overland Park, Kansas. The portrait was commissioned by the Marinoni family and was presented at the state Capitol on Friday, October 16, 1998, during a ceremony honoring Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni, former poet laureate of Arkansas, on the 50th anniversary of her founding Poetry Day in Arkansas. The portrait was on display in the Distinguished Arkansans Gallery of the State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas for about 20 years and is now part of the Marinoni collection. The portrait is from an original photo by Bob’s Photography in Fayetteville, also in the Marinoni collection.
