Italia Vitaliani

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Italia Vitaliani (20 August 1866 – 6 December 1938) was an Italian stage and silent-film actress. Born in Turin to theatrical parents, she was the niece of famous actress Eleonora Duse. She began acting as a child in her father's company and joined major stage troupes in the 1880s. She became the leading actress in Giambattista Marini's company and in 1892 formed her own company, touring abroad in Russia and South America. She made her film debut in 1909 in Fedra by Oreste Gherardini. From 1919 she mainly taught drama, first in Florence and later at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In her later years she faced depression and financial problems, and in 1931 founded her own drama school in Milan, where she died in 1938.