The Ugly Club is based in the small town of Piobbico in the province of Pesaro in the Marches. Iacobelli, 65, operates a general store and has been a local booster for his community, serving as president of the pro loco. The Ugly Club has brought significant media attention to the town largely because of his innovative and spirited undertakings to make Piobbbico the 'Ugly People's Mecca.'
In 1996, Iacobelli staged a symbolic marriage ceremony between the winner of the Miss Bellissima beauty contest and the fattest man in Italy. In a nod to the prized local production of truffles, Giuliano Bellesi, who weighs in at 217 kilograms, was dressed as a truffle while Elisa Salmasi, a svelt 56 kilos, came as a mushroom. "Truffles are the ugliest growth in the ground and yet they are precious, even an aphrodisiac, whereas the mushroom is beautiful to look at but can sometimes can be poisonous, even fatal", says Iacobelli, cracking a smile. "Nature is very honorable, it gives other qualities to those of us who are ugly".
A visitor to Iacobelli's house is ushered into the cellar that is a shrine to ugliness. "It's my private museum", Iacobelli says, flicking on the lights to reveal room after room of ugly possessions: faded photos, tarnished trophies, yellowed documents and posters and rusted tools fill the shelves.
A slogan is painted on a board that reads: "The women of ugly men are always happy.' The head of a wild boar - the club's emblem - is mounted over the door while the club's crest features a reclining man smoking a pipe with the slogan: "La bruttezza e 'na virtu, la bellezza e schiavitu" -
Ugliness is a virtue, beauty is slavery. ?We're not against beauty", Iacobelli insists. "We've had four Miss Italys join our club. We are regular people who want to talk about the problems of ugliness in society."
These problems have presented themselves in ways Iacobelli hadn't anticipated. Young people have arrived at his doorstep in despair, some on the verge of suicide because of their appearance. He's been cast into the role of psychotherapist on more than one occasion. "I get them to face themselves in the mirror," he says. On his mantle is a frieze of Vulcan, the mythological god and protector of the ugly. As the story goes, on seeing how ugly he was, his mother threw Vulcan over a cliff but he survived and became a skilled blacksmith. For supplying Achille with superior weapons he was admitted to Mount Olympus where he married the beautiful Venus, goddess of love, and lived happily ever after.
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