In her autobiography'Bonjour, Katrin!' published in 1985, Caterina Valente describes the often very hard years of war and the early post-war years very impressively. The forced departure to Italy meant for the children that they learned the language of the country in which their parents were born. The Valentes were not allowed to return to Paris because Maria and Giuseppe Valente were Italian-born, the family had Italian citizenship. When World War II broke out in September 1939, the Valente family was in Switzerland for a guest performance and, like all foreigners, were expelled by the authorities.

She was five years old, danced in a ballet costume - a white tutu - and sang a song in French.

Here daughter Caterina was allowed on stage for the first time. Maria Valente and her husband, an accordion virtuoso, also performed in important German variety theatres: the Hansa-Theater in Hamburg, the Scala in Berlin and the Friedrichsbau-Theater in Stuttgart. She admired her mother's versatility, perfection and great comedic talent. So they stayed in Paris, where the youngest daughter of Maria and Giuseppe was born on 14 January 1931: Caterina. The stock market crash prevented these plans, because the Valente family, like so many others, lost all their savings. Maria Valente was successful as a variety star on the world's major stages and was so well-known in the USA that she wanted to live and work with her family there. Octowas a'black Friday' for Maria and Giuseppe Valente, who had lived in Paris with their three children Nina, Pietro and Silvio since 1924. Jewelcases / Trays / Protection jackets.

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