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Guglielmo is also an equestrian artist. He can jump over ten horses in a row, or three carriages.

La Domenica del Corriere titles «Irruption of a she-elephant in a church in Milan" in 1959. Mary escaped from the circus (she was staying with Orfei at that time), and for seven hours runs through the streets of Milan. Here she is drawn as she enters…

When Mary arrives she becomes the main attraction. The posters reflect it. The family poses in front of the circus, in order: Olimpia, Guglielmo, Zaira, Angelina (aunt), Dolores, Rodolfo e his wife Guerrina, Luigi e Loris, Gabriella and Nadia

When Guglielmo closed his circus in 1953, the troupe broke apart. Rodolfo and his wife Guerrina Verzegnacci joined other circuses with their children Loris (1936) e Luigi (1940). They worked with Circo Nazionale Orfei and with Circo Cristiani: Loris…

“I was only 4 and I would have four or five acts. Wake up, Nadia, my mom would say, you need to work… then I would have to sleep in the afternoon or my mom would spank me. She would give us raw egg and Marsala before our exercise. I would jump over…

Rodolfo Zoppè had a number with his wife Guerrina using a motorcycle. Guerrina was also a white clown, a very unusual role for a woman. “He was ugly but funny. A fabulous clown. It wasn’t necessary to out make up. It was enough for him to speak and…

With the closing of the Zoppe Circus, Guglielmo started to manage a bumper car ride in the Italian luna park. "It was not like before. Before there was more harmony, more solidarity, We would fight, but we really were like one family.” (Nadia and…

This picture gathers all family members before the family was separated by migration in 1948. Tiny Cucciolo is visible in front.

Zaira (in the center) marries a «fermo» (an immobile), Giuseppe Visentin (in the center), and becomes the reference point for the family. Giuseppe Visentin was a shop owner who falls in love when he sees her performing in the circus. It is not easy…

The roots of the family are lost in the legend that says that a Napoline Zoppè (Napoleon?) travelled to Hugary from France in 1842. He met Ermenegilda, an equestrian ballerina. They belonged to two different social ranks, a clown and an equestrian,…