Lorenzo de' Medici: “My name is so important that it doesn't need a title.”

Lorenzo de' Medici. “This is my name,” says one of the few remaining descendants of the family that ruled Florence for centuries and whose surname is synonymous with the Renaissance. He is separated from another Lorenzo, the Magnificent, by 502 years, but the shadow of such a high-caliber figure can be very long. “Bearing this surname has almost always been a burden, sometimes even too heavy,” he states in the book The Medici, My Family (Ariel), in which he also points out the “lack of originality” of journalists “when interviewing a descendant of the Renaissance.” “No one has ever asked me if I have been happy,” he laments. So, taking up the challenge, the first question is obligatory: “Have you been happy?” And he answers, like almost everyone: “I think happiness is about moments, and all in all, I can't complain.”

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And this Lorenzo de' Medici of the 21st century doesn't seek to be more than anyone else; he only wants to be known as a writer. "After thirty years, I think I've achieved it," he notes with amusement. The author of a dozen historical thrillers, he has debuted in non-fiction with a kind of family autobiography that is a true statement of intent. On the one hand, he wants to dispel the widespread idea that the Medici family died out in the mid-18th century. "The two so-called historical branches died out," he explains. Currently, four branches remain. "We're not a very large family. All together, we don't even reach 15," he reveals. Furthermore, his branch is doomed to die with him and his brother, both childless. "We've come to terms with the fact that the end has come. It's destiny, and I believe in destiny," he consoles himself.

But the most compelling reason he decided to write the personal history of the Medici is to correct the "distorted version of the family" projected by recent fiction, such as the famous Netflix series . "I understand that the script is meant to entertain, but if you show history, you can't give an adulterated version," he laments. "Otherwise, people will assume that Giovanni de Medici was poisoned by his opponents." Twenty-five generations of Medici provide "material for several scripts," he quips, and without the need to fabricate, since in many family episodes, reality surpasses any wild fiction. And even more so with the Medici, capable of anything, even having three popes: one without being a priest beforehand, another with a son, and the last without being a member of the family. He talks about all of them in the book, as if it were his own life.

Lorenzo and his older brother were raised like princes, with many rigid rules (such as avoiding talking about religion, politics, or money) and surrounded by portraits of their ancestors. “We had to know many languages ​​[he speaks Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese] and the history of our family and other families.” And, curiously, they also had to memorize The Prince , which Machiavelli dedicated to the Medici, a “very important” book, he says. His parents left Italy when Mussolini came to power, and he grew up in places like Lausanne, where they received visits from artists like Josephine Baker and Yul Brynner and had royal neighbors like Queen Victoria Eugenia, widow of Alfonso XIII. They were also often visited by King Umberto II of Italy. “A great lord,” he recalls. “I asked him why he introduced himself with the title of Count of Sarre, and he replied: ‘If you are the one, you don’t have to prove anything,’ a lesson I’ve always applied.”

He asserts that he doesn't yearn for the family grandeur of yesteryear. "Titles are things of the past; they'll gradually disappear," he predicts. "I don't see any point in them, that's why I'm a republican," he surprises. A republican like the first Medici who ruled Florence from the shadows in the Quattrocento. Like Lorenzo the Magnificent. "My name is so important that it doesn't need a title," he laughs. The family gave two queens to France, and its blood runs through the veins of European monarchies. Would he have liked his family to remain in power? "Power is addictive and dangerous. We've been around for too long. That's enough."