Early Life
Mario was born in Cagliari, Sardinia on 17 October 1810 as Giovanni Matteo De Candia; his inherited heraldic titles were Cavaliere (Knight), Nobile (Nobleman) and Don (Sir) in the Kingdom of Sardinia and subsequently the Kingdom of Italy.
His aristocratic family belonged to the Savoyard-Sardinian social elite, part of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the house of Savoy. His relatives were members of the Royal Court of Turin, while his father held the rank of general and was aide-de-camp to King Charles Felix of Sardinia (house of Savoy).
In order to free himself from the burdensome ancestral traditions which he had inherited, and to mitigate his father's opposition to a member of the high-born De Candia family pursuing a 'lowly' musical career, the budding singer adopted the one-word stage name of "Mario" when he made his debut on November 30, 1838. (Sometimes, however, he is referred to in print by the fuller appellation of "Giovanni Mario" and in many portraits in the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris he is also called "Mario De Candia".)
Mario's decision to become a professional singer arose from accidental circumstances. He was 12 years old when he moved from Cagliari to Turin, where he studied at the Northern Italian city's military academy. Among his fellow students at the academy was the future Prime Minister of Italy, Camillo Cavour. While serving as a second-lieutenant in the King of Sardinia's Guards in Turin, he expressed liberal political ideas. He was required to leave Piedmont because of this, and travelled to Paris. The fugitive nobleman was made to feel welcome in Parisian salons and in the city's radical milieu. For a time he earned his living by giving fencing and riding lessons.
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