Biography

Michela Belmonte was born on October 30, 1925 in Padua, Veneto, Italy. She was an actress, known for Il nostro prossimo (1943), A Pilot Returns (1942) and I 3 aquilotti (1942). She was married to Giorgio Schiff Giorgini. She died on July 3, 1978 in Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain.

Sister of Maria Denis

She later became an important Egyptologist under her married name Michela Schiff Giorgini.

Was involved in major excavations in Egypt and Sudan, many of which she led.

She was a highly decorated woman. Member of the French Legion of Honor, Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Gold medal for science and culture of the Republic of Sudan, and Honorary doctorates from the University of Pisa (1971) and the University of Khartoum (1977).

Born as Michela Beomonte she changed her stage name to Michela Belmonte. After the marriage with banker and Concentration camp Flossenbürg survivor Giorgio Schiff Giorgini her name was Michela Schiff Giorgini. When her husband changed his name to the name of an extinct branch of his family she firmed then under Michela Paleologo Diana (or Michela Schiff Giorgini Paleologo Diana).