Word: borgo
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...little (pop. 12,600) Italian town of Borgo San Sepolcro, lying in the fertile valley of the upper Tiber, has a proud boast: one of its townsmen was the great Renaissance painter and mathematician, Piero della Francesca (circa 1418-92). Legend has it that Piero was a fatherless boy who took the name of his mother Francesca. He studied at Florence, returned to Borgo San Sepolcro to get his first major commission, traveled through Italy painting in Rimini, Ferrara, Rome, Arezzo and Urbino, then settled down to spend his last 14 years in his native town compiling two mathematical treatises...
Knife-nosed Ludovico Monti was a dedicated man. The most energetic news vendor in Borgo San Lorenzo, near Florence, he had been offered the local agency for many daily papers. But, with the support of his pretty wife Armida, Monti was determined to sell only Unita, the Communist paper which commanded all his faith and ambition...
...Sunday mornings Monti invariably aroused Borgo's citizens with his cries: "Buy Unita! Read Unita! Here is Unita!" Peasants for miles around knew the peal of Monti's bicycle bell as he flashed by, a huge stack of papers thrown across the handlebars, a small red flag flying on his front mudguard. Those who looked up late saws the word "Unita" in huge letters on the back of Monti's sweater as he pedaled briskly about his business...
...news vendor's tireless efforts brought their reward. For four years running, Communist provincial headquarters had acclaimed him "Tuscany's Best Unita Salesman," and he had been named inspector over all other Unita salesmen in the Borgo San Lorenzo area. Monti's fine record even led party headquarters to take a tolerant attitude when early this year he failed for the first time to turn in promptly the proceeds of his Unita sales...