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Where was Francisco Scaramanga born?

ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
edited December 2013 in Literary 007 Posts: 2,539

The novel says he was a "relative of the Catalan family of circus managers". Of course, there are no Catalan families with that name.

After that, Fleming says that his father was Enrico Scaramanga (Italian name), and that, after the "elephant affair", he flew to US through Naples (Italy again).

So, was Fleming mixing Catalonia with Italy?? Was he thinking in Catania, in Sicily??

Any thought about this?

Comments

  • SandySandy Somewhere in Europe
    Posts: 4,012
    The family could be of Catalan origin. For examples, in the count of Monte Cristo there are two Catalan characters but both are French albeit of Catalan origin. On a side note, there are many circus families that have their origins in Spain although they haven't lived there for many years.
  • fjdinardofjdinardo
    Posts: 1,965
    I thought he was born in Cuba
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,539
    Thanks for your answers, friends!

    What I found more interesting is that Fleming begins his description writing about the "Catalan family" and then all the other stuff point to Italy... except "Francisco" which I think it is "Francesco" in Italian!!

    Perhaps I´m reading too much into it and it was only just one thing that he expected to change later in TMWTGG... but couldn´t.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    An interesting question.

    As to the name Scaramanga, I always figured Fleming, perhaps subconsciously, wove that name from Scaramouche, a stock character of 17th-century Italian dramaturgy.

    As to the character's origins and development, I doubt Fleming gave it serious thought--or had time to--but perhaps we can assume that he was born in Catalonia, but that he and his family moved to Italy, and that his father Enrique Italicized his name to better fit in in his new homeland, while Francisco, for some reason, did not.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    edited December 2013 Posts: 14,824
    Wasn't Scaramanga's first time in the novel Paco and not Francisco? Paco is most definitely Spanish. Maybe his family, on his father's side, was from Italy a few generations ago. Interestingly enough, Christopher Lee has Italian blood and struggled in his early years as an actor because he looked too foreign.
  • RevelatorRevelator
    Posts: 2,895
    Keep in mind that Fleming took the name "Scaramanga" from an Eton schoolmate of his that he didn't like. So he wanted to use the name, and then he built an origin around it. He probably wanted Scaramanga to be Spanish because his agent would operate out of a Spanish-speaking country. Spain ruled Naples for several hundred years, so there was a good bit of mixing between the nations.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,824
    Revelator wrote: »
    Keep in mind that Fleming took the name "Scaramanga" from an Eton schoolmate of his that he didn't like. So he wanted to use the name, and then he built an origin around it. He probably wanted Scaramanga to be Spanish because his agent would operate out of a Spanish-speaking country. Spain ruled Naples for several hundred years, so there was a good bit of mixing between the nations.

    And often Fleming's villains are of mixed origins: Mr Big is Haitian, but may have some French blood in him, Dr No is half Chinese half German, Blofeld is half Polish and Greek, he also has some German blood and he claims to have aristocratic French blood.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited June 2016 Posts: 6,784
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Revelator wrote: »
    Keep in mind that Fleming took the name "Scaramanga" from an Eton schoolmate of his that he didn't like. So he wanted to use the name, and then he built an origin around it. He probably wanted Scaramanga to be Spanish because his agent would operate out of a Spanish-speaking country. Spain ruled Naples for several hundred years, so there was a good bit of mixing between the nations.

    And often Fleming's villains are of mixed origins: Mr Big is Haitian, but may have some French blood in him, Dr No is half Chinese half German, Blofeld is half Polish and Greek, he also has some German blood and he claims to have aristocratic French blood.

    About Mr. Big. Fleming writes that his real name is Buonaparte Ignace Gallia. That name doesn't sound French at all. Buonaparte is definitely an Italian name.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,824
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Revelator wrote: »
    Keep in mind that Fleming took the name "Scaramanga" from an Eton schoolmate of his that he didn't like. So he wanted to use the name, and then he built an origin around it. He probably wanted Scaramanga to be Spanish because his agent would operate out of a Spanish-speaking country. Spain ruled Naples for several hundred years, so there was a good bit of mixing between the nations.

    And often Fleming's villains are of mixed origins: Mr Big is Haitian, but may have some French blood in him, Dr No is half Chinese half German, Blofeld is half Polish and Greek, he also has some German blood and he claims to have aristocratic French blood.

    About Mr. Big. Fleming writes that his real name is Buonaparte Ignace Gallia. That name doesn't sound French at all. Buonaparte is definitely an Italian name.

    I know but the novel mentions that he may have French blood. Which would make perfect sense since he is Haitian.

    Bonaparte was not originally a French name anyway, neither was Napoleon French. He was Corsican... of Italian origins. Which I'm sure Ian Fleming knew very well.
  • RevelatorRevelator
    edited June 2016 Posts: 2,895
    "Gallia" refers to Gaul, aka France, so Mr. Big's real name is actually very French. He was almost certainly named Buonaparte in honor of Napoleon, who was/is a French national hero, and probably the most influential Frenchman (even if he was born in Corsica) of the modern age. M confirms Mr. Big's ancestry by telling Bond "He's not pure negro. Born in Haiti. Good dose of French blood."
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