One of the biggest stars of the silent film era in the 1920s, Elena Sangro was born and raised at Palazzo Aragona.
She was the daughter of Avveduto Bartoli-Avveduti, administrator of the affairs and estates of Duke Quarto di Belgioioso, and his wife Ortensia d’Avalos, and the noblewoman Ida Albini. Maria Antonietta Bartoli Avveduti was born on September 5, 1897, as recorded in her birth certificate. However, Maria herself later claimed to have been born in 1901, subtracting four years from her age.
After studying theater in Rome at Santa Cecilia, she made her film debut in the lead role of Fabiola (1918).
During the following decade, she starred in around forty films for various production companies under the stage name Elena Sangro or Elena di Sangro.
In 1924, she played Poppea in the epic Quo Vadis? directed by Georg Jacoby and Gabriellino D’Annunzio, then took on leading roles in the three Maciste films directed by Guido Brignone: Maciste Imperatore (1924), Maciste all’Inferno (1925), and Maciste nella Gabbia dei Leoni (1926).
At the peak of her popularity in 1927, Elena Sangro became the lover of Gabriele D’Annunzio, who gave her the nickname “La Piacente” and dedicated the erotic poem Carmen Votivum to her.
After parting ways with D’Annunzio, Maria Antonietta changed her stage name to Lilia Flores and partially retired from cinema, performing as a soprano in concerts and radio broadcasts.
In the immediate post-war period, she founded her own production company, Stella d’Oro Film, with which she produced and directed several art documentaries under the male pseudonym Anton Bià between 1947 and 1950, including Sogno d’Amore (1947), Villa Adriana (1948), and Le Madonne di Raffaello (1950).
She remained active in the 1960s within the Associazione dei Pionieri del Cinema, an organization she also served as president for a time. Elena Sangro passed away in Rome on December 8, 1973.
