NAMES IN THE NEWS : Town in Stitches Over Raisa
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VENICE, Italy — About 80 women on a tiny island in the Venetian lagoon are busy stitching lace for a shawl to be given to Soviet First Lady Raisa Gorbachev.
Italian Premier Giulio Andreotti personally selected the model and decorative pattern for the shawl by the Burano lace makers that he will present during Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s Nov. 29 visit to Italy. It has not yet been disclosed whether Raisa Gorbachev will accompany her husband.
Gorbachev will meet with Andreotti in Rome and meet Dec. 1 with Pope John Paul II, the first meeting between the leaders of the Kremlin and Vatican.
The fishing village of Burano is the center of traditional Venetian lace making, an art that has suffered from industrial competition. It takes three days for a pocket handkerchief to be braided in “Burano” stitch.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is among the former customers of the island’s artisans. She ordered a set of sheets and tablecloths during the 1960s.
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