Gabriella Ezra

Gabriella Elisa Ezra OSI (née Schittar; born January 1928) is a former Italian language coach for Glyndebourne Festival Opera.  Born in Venice, Italy, she is an Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy.

Gabriella Ezra
Born
Gabriella Elisa Schittar

January 1928
Venice, Italy
NationalityItalaian
OccupationLanguage coach

On 28 April 1945, Gabriella Schittar, then aged just 17, risked her life to negotiate with a German firing squad who were about to execute 38 men and boys (including her father Luigi Schittar) in the village of Cappella di Scorzè where she had been evacuated from Venice.[1] The soldiers claimed that the villagers were responsible for an attack on their convoy. Gabriella, who had studied in Innsbruck, Austria and spoke German, managed to convince the soldiers that the men and boys were innocent, and in doing so she saved them from certain death. Her willingness to put her life at risk for the sake of justice and brotherhood was a demonstration of extraordinary bravery.[2]

In 1946, while working as a translator in the British Town Major's office in Mestre, Gabriella fell in love with Captain Peter Ezra, of the British Army Middlesex Regiment, who took part in the Sicily Campaign and the Battle of Anzio during World War II. After their wedding in Venice in 1949, they moved to Hove, from where she worked as a language coach at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and had two children: Mark Ezra and Diana.[3] Captain Peter Ezra died in 2005.[4]

On 20 November 2017 the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, awarded Gabriella Elisa Schittar with the honour Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy for her courage and altruism.[5]

Honours

References
  1. Jack Malvern (2019-03-20). "Reward at last for the girl who saved a village from the Nazis". The Times.
  2. "Gabriella Schittar receives knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy". The Italian Embassy in London. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. 2018-05-25. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  3. Neil Murphy (2019-03-19). "Untold story of girl, 17, who saved entire village from being massacred by Nazis". Mirror.
  4. Dominic Nicholls (2019-03-19). "Brighton pensioner awarded Star of Italy for saving village from destruction by Nazis 74 years ago". The Telegraph.
  5. "Schittar Sig.ra Gabriella Elisa". Presidenza della Repubblica (in Italian). 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
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