Elena Di Porto was born in Rome on November 11, 1912, to Angelo and Grazia Astrologo. A Jewish family residing in the Roman ghetto, at number 2 Via del Pianto.

Known as the “madwoman of Piazza Giudia” for her fuming and rebellious temperament, she was known for an incident involving her when, after the promulgation of the racial laws, she witnessed the beating of a Jew by two fascists and, unable to keep quiet, physically intervened to defend the man.

The act did not go unpunished, costing her imprisonment and police confinement from 1940 to 1942.

When she was liberated, she began the struggle again, organizing riots and assaults against the Germans. During the “Black Saturday” of Roman Jews on October 16, 1943, Elena managed to escape the roundup, but after learning that her sister and nephews had been captured, she decided to give herself up.

She was thus deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered on an unknown date.

You can consult the birth certificate on the Ancestors Portal: Archivio di Stato di Roma > Stato civile italiano > Roma > 1912

The original is preserved at the Archives of State of Rome.

Giacomo Debenedetti was inspired by her figure in his book 16 ottobre 1943 for the character of Celeste, a Jewish woman who raised the alarm of the impending roundup by the Germans, but who-because she was considered “crazy” by many-was not believed.

A more careful and extensive biographical profile is sketched by Gaetano Petraglia in the volume La matta di piazza Giudia. History and Memory of the Roman Jewess Elena Di Porto, published by Giuntina (2022).