Marilena Vai 

I received an archives request recently from a woman on behalf of her mother. I enjoy delving into the past and particularly sharing the various records contained in Kilbreda’s Archives, otherwise, why keep them?

I have discovered that the woman’s mother had come to board at Kilbreda after the Second World War. Born in Italy, her parents made every effort to keep her alive to their own detriment. Newspaper reports indicate, perhaps a little too dramatically, that they starved to death for her. Her daughter suggests that, while the dire situation may have contributed or exacerbated their conditions, her mother and her father believed to have died from other conditions.

In 1948, with only one aunt, a nun, living in Italy and the other living in St Kilda, Marilena’s Australian aunt travelled to Italy and brought her back to Melbourne with her. She is pictured with her suitcases, which were almost as tall as the 6 year old herself, in numerous newspapers around the country. 

At some point she became a boarder at Kilbreda, although the only record I have found of her so far is her name appearing in the list of students in the 1950 Annual. Marilena’s daughter Susan, recalls her mother talking about contracting meningitis while at Kilbreda and having to have all her hair cut off. Marilena also recalled socialising with boys from St Bede’s, which normally only happened in about Year 10 or 11. This suggests that she lived here over an extended period. While I have yet to hear from boarders who lived here at that time, I believe there will be some past pupils who will shed further light on this intriguing story.

At present, Marilena, who turns 80 this year, is suffering more and more from memory loss and lives in Doncaster. She does however, at times, recall her schooling at Kilbreda with fondness.

The family members have no photos of their mum or any history of her apart from her marriage certificate, and are hoping that the school may have something in the archives of her life.

Damian Smith 

Archives