Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca

[3] Vittoria Alliata did post-graduate studies in Lebanon in the late 1960s, but abandoned them in order to become acquainted with Arab and Muslim women of all social backgrounds.

She travelled in the Middle East, including the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, for more than a decade, and her experiences resulted in the 1980 book Harem, which depicts the daily lives of Arab and Muslim women.

[5] When Vittoria Alliata returned to Sicily, she found cows and wild boar wandering about in the Villa Valguarnera [it], the family's 18th-century summer palace in Bagheria to the east of Palermo.

[6] The will was contested by the family, but while in probate, the mafia sequestered the building, installed a guardian, and were rumoured to have plans to open a casino.

[4][7] Vittoria Alliata spoke at a conference in Moscow of the International Movement of Russophiles in March 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.