Paola Maino: The woman who shaped Sonia Gandhi's life and destiny

Sonia was the second daughter of Paola and Stefano who had raised her as their Cenerentola, or Cinderella. The nickname, as the subsequent years proved, was not entirely fortuitous. Paola and Stefano sensed early on that unlike her sisters, Nadia and Anushka, Sonia always wanted to be different. As a young girl she was never comfortable in the dusty industrial town on the outskirts of Turin where she grew. Orbassano was a town, a muddle of apartment blocks and houses that had come up in the early 1950s as a result of the post-war boom in northern Italy.

At home, the Mainos often conversed in Russian instead of Italian or Spanish, the three languages they would speak with ease. The Russian impact was there as Stefano had fought in Russia with the Germans. The Mainos were deeply influenced by the Russian language, culture and food and loved the country. They even gave Russian names to their three daughters. Paola was hard-working and disciplined, a quality that she passed on to her family, especially Sonia.

Family friends said that by early 1965 Stefano had made enough money that he could fund his daughter’s education in Cambridge. Paola and Stefano had come to visit the United Kingdom when Sonia came to study English at the Lennox Cook School, Cambridge.

To know more: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/paola-maino-the-woman-who-shaped-sonia-gandhi-s-life-and-destiny-1995044-2022-09-01