Veronica Lazăr

Veronica Lazăr (6 October 1938 – 8 June 2014) was a Romanian-born Italian actress.

Biography Lazăr was born in Bucharest in 1938. She graduated from the Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography (where she also obtained a degree in psychology, which she practiced until 1994, dealing mainly in couples therapy) and subsequently played roles in Romanian theatre [notably a run of Right You Are (if you think so) in 1963-64]. She fled her home country to escape communism and eventually settled in Italy in 1965. She managed to learn the Italian language in only a few weeks and had planned to move on to the United States or Israel, but became entranced with Rome. There, she met and married Italian actor Adolfo Celi with whom she had two children, director Leonardo Celi and actress Alessandra Celi.

Lazăr is probably best known internationally for her role as the demonic Mater Tenebrarum in Dario Argento's Inferno (1980), She was also president of the Itaro Art Foundation and was instrumental in its 2007 retrospective on Romanian cinema held in Rome and Pisa. She was heavily involved with the acting students at Teatro Valle and often would cook meals for them at her home and bring them to the theatre. The students there nicknamed her "Nonna Veronica."

Lazăr also coordinated the construction of a hospital in Mali over the course of a year, on orders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When she returned to Italy, she brought with her African fabrics, statues, and carpets, many of which were still in her home when she died. Lazăr loved to play cards, share with her friends, and had a special affinity for the sea. At her funeral, she wanted her 18-year-old niece, a career musician already, to play the theme from Schindler's List throughout the Jewish cemetery in Prima Porta where she was laid to rest.