5 April 1946
Publifoto
© Intesa Sanpaolo Publifoto Archive
In 1946 Antonio Costa was just 11 years old, and he lived with his parents in Abbiategrasso, where he soon became well-known for his supposed gift of clairvoyance. It was said that when the child was blindfolded, by laying his hands on a photograph he could tell the names of the subjects of the pictures, and state their whereabouts in that moment. After the war, there were many missing persons, and it is not hard to imagine how many families were desperate for information about their loved ones, and so fraught that they sought comfort in the words of a young boy who seemed to be able to dispel their doubts.
From that small town, the news of the “seer of Abbiategrasso” soon spread to the national press, after which Costa’s fame quickly faded.
