Name: Falco Demetrio Luigi Maria Peregrini
Born: November 5th, 1893 (26)
Place of Birth: Venice
Nationality: Italian
Religion: Roman Catholic
Occupation: Seminarian, Ph.D. student, language teacher
Voice: Lyrical tenor
Class: Featherweight
Hobbies: Hiking, rare books, repairing cars, wireless communication
Ism: Ultramontanism
Flower: White dog rose (”I am worthy of you / Pleasure and pain.”)
Scent: motor oil, frankincense, ozone
Inspiration:
“It is My will to conquer all the world and all enemies and so to enter into the glory of My Father; therefore, whoever would like to come with Me is to labor with Me, that following Me in the pain, he may also follow Me in the glory.”
- Speech of Christ the King in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
Cor Iesu, flagrans amore nostri.
Inflamma cor nostrum amore tui.
- From the Little Office of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Se vittorie si belle
(Fulvio Testi, Claudio Monteverdi)
Se vittorie sì belle han le guerre d’amore,
fatti guerrier mio core,
e non temer degli amorosi strali
le ferite mortali.
Pugna, sappi ch’è gloria
il morir per desio della vittoria.
“Since such fine victories are to be won in the wars of love,
make yourself warlike, my heart,
and fear not the mortal wounds
of love’s arrows.
Fight on, and know that it is glorious
to die desiring victory.”
January 27th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Very hip, cool, and savvy. Your talent is what we call here (Chicago) “over the top” and “knocks your socks off” and “rocks your world.” The quotes are great stuff, and the dialogue reminiscent of Boccaccio’s Decameron. My grandparents were from Asiago (Northern Italy, capital Vincenza/Venice) and I think F. P. profile is right on the money. Kudos to your imagination and intellect. Somehow a Phd in History doesn’t seem to do you justice. You seem more attuned to Art, Language, and Literature. I have degrees in Literature and Medicine and seem to share a similar kinship. I find Falco your most interesting character, but I may be biased, being Italian and male lol.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:41 am
Thank you, too flattering! I’m happy that you have Italian roots and appreciate my work, and particularly that you’re from Chicago and know so much about the period. I sometimes worry that some people might be offended on behalf of their faith or ethnic group or nation, but all Americans this far have been very kind and knowledgeable!
Before I came up with the 1920’s setting for Goldenbird, Falco had a Byzantine origin. When I came up with the Adriatic location, it felt natural to make him a Venetian instead. I visited Venice in 2001, and Trieste in the early 90’s. Would be nice to flesh out the local characteristics more, to show that Italy is not just Rome, Naples and pizza…
November 11th, 2008 at 5:54 am
falco demetrio luigi maria peregrini what a name by the way how did he become a saint? i am so into this guy!!!=)
November 11th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Hi, darkmario66! Hehe… I thought his name was over the top, but I was inspired by Rudolph Valentino’s real name: “Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi” (not counting the fake titles that Valentino used to add to sound more like Old World nobility!)
Falco would be the last one to call himself a saint, poor guy. (Although Mayann thinks he is a little angel.) He has spent most of his life in convent school, seminary, the army and the university, because he promised his mother on her deathbed that he would become a priest. She was very sick, and doctors couldn’t cure her illness, but there was a priest who always could make her happy - and Falco wants to be that kind of priest. Somehow it works the other way around with Mayann - she makes him happy, but he doesn’t know how to respond… He is a deacon now, so it’s only a matter of months until he is ordained (unless something shocking happens). Yes, his path to sainthood is in great danger!