By Karen M. Greenwald
Award-winning author Karen M. Greenwald’s books include The Mud Angels: How Students Saved the City of Florence, and the Kansas 2022 Notable Book, A Vote for Susanna, The First Woman Mayor.
Imagine studying Italian in a college program in Firenze! One week it’s gelato, the Uffizi, and San Lorenzo Market. The next? “La Bella” is covered in tons of oily, stinky, debris-filled mud. Danger surrounds the city. What do you do?
In 1966, when the Arno flood’s aftermath put Florence in peril, international students studying there ignored barriers to help. Thousands followed. These unexpected heroes became known as, “Angeli del Fango” or “Mud Angels.” After lengthy interviews with 16 Florida State University alumni who were among the first in the mud, I now call them “friends.”
Many examples of Mud Angel selflessness exist, but what happened at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (BNCF) captivated me. Centuries-old treasures waded close to destruction in the library’s stench-ridden, water and mud filled basement. Students submerged themselves for endless hours each day—initially without protective gear—searching. Many female students only had skirts, thanks to 1960’s dress codes.
Why would foreigners endure these unpleasant, unsafe challenges for a heritage not necessarily their own? Most American Mud Angels I interviewed participated at the BNCF. Their answer? Losing any Italian antiquity felt personal, because “[o]nce in the mud, we were all Italian!”
After two years of researching and writing my picture book, THE MUD ANGELS: HOW STUDENTS SAVED THE CITY OF FLORENCE, I feel a closeness to Firenze and passion for my Italian language course. I’m honored to share this surprising story of young people from around the world working side-by-side to preserve Italian cultural treasures!