Q 01/05

What was Sophia Loren's birth surname?

A) Scicolone

B) Villani

C) Lazzaro

D) Lombardo

Answer · why

A) Scicolone

Her mother's surname was Villani; her father was Riccardo Scicolone Murillo, who refused to marry her mother.

Q 02/05

In which town near Naples did the young Loren live with her mother, sister and grandmother?

A) Sorrento

B) Pozzuoli

C) Caserta

D) Amalfi

Answer · why

B) Pozzuoli

She was actually born in a Rome clinic, but the family home was in this port town whose munitions plant drew Allied bombers.

Q 03/05

What was Loren's mother Romilda's profession?

A) Opera singer

B) Schoolteacher

C) Seamstress

D) Piano teacher

Answer · why

D) Piano teacher

Romilda paid for Sofia's Neapolitan acting school by giving piano lessons.

Q 04/05

How was the young Sofia wounded during an Allied bombing raid in the Second World War?

A) Shrapnel struck her chin

B) She was deafened in one ear

C) A wall collapsed on her leg

D) She was burned on the arm

Answer · why

A) Shrapnel struck her chin

The harbour and munitions plant of her home town were frequent targets; the family then moved to Naples.

Q 05/05

What did Loren's grandmother Luisa open in the family living room after the war?

A) A dressmaking workshop

B) A pub selling cherry liquor

C) A pizzeria and bakery

D) A hairdressing salon

Answer · why

B) A pub selling cherry liquor

Romilda played piano, Maria sang and Sofia waited tables; the American GIs stationed nearby loved it.