Sabina Amorosi
Sabina Amorosi | |
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| Born | Elea Ranan 18 May 1936 Senik, Alscia |
| Died | 24 November 2016 (aged 80) Velouria, Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk, Gylias |
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| Known for | "Modern-day courtesan" and member of the Darnan Cyras government's inner circle |
Elea Ranan (18 May 1936 – 25 November 2016), known by her stage name Sabina Amorosi, was a Gylian sex worker, photographic model, actress, and businesswoman. She was best known for her hourglass figure and achieved fame as a "modern-day courtesan" of the Golden Revolution, being a companion of various members and associates of the Darnan Cyras government.
Early life
Elea Ranan was born on 18 May 1936 in Senik, Alscia, to working-class parents. She received an informal education during the Free Territories. In childhood, she had bouts of rheumatic fever, for which she spent some time in hospital.
She contacted poliomyelitis aged 11. The disease lasted 4 years and required surgery on her right leg, which left scars she was self-conscious about and concealed in photos. As part of her treatment, she performed rigorous exercise to strengthen her muscles, swimming in a heated pool and bodybuilding every day.
She began working as a waitress and nude model in 1952. Subsequently, she progressed to a minor film career and sex work, choosing the professional name "Sabina Amorosi". She showed a knack for self-promotion, playing up her voluptuous figure and hiring an agent to help refine her public persona.
Golden Revolution
In 1956, Sabina met Neóre Rouraþ, a Democratic Communist Party member and later Gylias' first foreign minister. The two began a romantic relationship, which led her to the company of General Council members and other political figures. They broke up in 1958, by which time she had entered the inner circle of the Darnan Cyras government.
She became a companion to various ministers of the government, and also befriended notable figures associated with it, such as ferroses Penelope Morris, Joan Holloway, and Marguerite Tailler. She often accompanied officials and politicians to public events, and attended campaign rallies and communal assemblies, using her beauty and celebrity to attract larger audiences. She had relationships with several ministers, notably the chahuteuses Julie Legrand, Eðe Saima, and Birgit Eckstein, and notable figures such as writer Anaïs Nin and artist Annemarie Beaulieu.
Sabina adopted a sophisticated wardrobe, habitually wearing low-cut dresses and picture hats, which humorously contrasted with her voluptuous figure. She continued to dabble in acting and singing (with several singles produced by Susan Shelley), choosing material that deliberately played to her image, and joked that she was "the biggest, least talented celebrity" of her day. She cultivated the image of a "dumb blonde bombshell" with tongue firmly in cheek, and enjoyed sympathetic media coverage. She starred in several pornographic films themed around breast fetishism and erotic lactation.
She was regarded fondly by many in the government's inner circle as a colourful and likeable presence. President Reda Kazan likened her to "a clever girl from some harmlessly oddball royal court, born centuries late." Philosopher Margot Fontaine, an acquaintance of hers, described her as "harmless and likeable", and joked that she and her salonnière friends "tried very hard to give her an école des bonnes manières."
Her best-known business venture was Sabina's Big Ones, an innovative combination of brothel, strip club, and nightclub. First established in 1960, it became a significant success, opening branches in most Gylian cities, and becoming a famous venue of Groovy Gylias, credited by music journalists with providing female-fronted or all-female bands a favourable environment to experiment with sexuality in rock music.
Later years and death
Sabina underwent a mastectomy in 1966, due to a risk of breast cancer. She kept the operation secret, and used breast prostheses modeled after her figure afterwards to maintain her public image.
After the Darnan Cyras government's tenure ended in 1976, she distanced herself from politics and focused on running Sabina's Big Ones. Falling attendance numbers and increasing financial losses forced the club to close in 1984. She increasingly withdrew from public life afterwards.
Having suffered long periods of ill health, Sabina died on 25 November 2016 in her residence in Velouria.