Motherland(s): ‘The tragic tale of Eugenia Falleni – A true story of adversity, tragedy, crime and courage’

A presentation by Mark Tedeschi AM KC

The Italian Cultural Institute is pleased to invite members and friends to the presentation of a very peculiar, and notorious, criminal case whose protagonist, Eugenia Falleni, lived in Sydney for decades as a man, getting married twice, before being charged in 1920 with the murder of his/her wife.

The story will be discussed by Mark Tedeschi, distinguished Italian-Australian author, photographer and former NSW Crown prosecutor, who wrote about it in his 2012 book, Eugenia: a true story of adversity, tragedy, crime and courage.

In Eugenia, Tedeschi has chronicled one of the most extraordinary criminal trials in legal history, starting from Eugenia’s early years in an Italian immigrant family in New Zealand, her brutal treatment when she first tried living as a man, and the twenty-two years that she lived in Sydney as Harry Crawford. After four years of marriage, her wife Annie mysteriously died. Her body was not identified for almost three years, and during this time Eugenia married again. She was finally arrested and charged with Annie’s murder.

Eugenia was shortlisted as a finalist in the Australian Book Industry Awards and both Eugenia and Kidnapped, also by Mark Tedeschi, were shortlisted for the Australian Crime Writers Association Ned Kelly awards.

Mark Tedeschi AM KC was a NSW Crown prosecutor for 35 years. He prosecuted some of the most significant and complex criminal trials in Australia. His family’s origins are in Verona and Torino. This is one reason why he was drawn to tell the story of Eugenia, who was born in Livorno. In his youth he spent six months in Firenze learning Italian. Mark has been to Italy numerous times – most recently to Sicily for a month last October. Mark is also a keen photographer who has exhibited his photographs of Italy in Australia on many occasions. His book Decoding the Image was released last December. In 2009 Mark was awarded the title of Cavaliere for his services to law and photography. He was also acknowledged in 2013 as a member of the Order of Australia.

His literary output includes a book on international trade law, articles on environmental law, social welfare law, business law, criminal law, genealogy, history, and four true-crime books:

• Eugenia: a true story of adversity, tragedy, crime and courage (2012)
• Kidnapped: the crime that shocked the nation (2015)
• Murder at Myall Creek: the trial that defined a nation (2016)
• Missing: Presumed Dead: the double murder case that shocked Australia (2022)

The presentation will be in ENGLISH.