She was Kitty, while he was called Pelu. Brother and sister, allies and collaborators in childhood games. Then Pelu became Diego Maradona and the lives of Kitty and the entire large family of Villa Fiorito changed forever.
However, the difficult years of her childhood and the small house in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where she grew up with six other children, have always remained in her heart.
Rita Mabel “Kitty” is one of Diego Armando Maradona’s older sisters. In the family, they affectionately called her “Pelu” because she was born with little body hair. Today, her image is everywhere in Buenos Aires: painted on the walls of houses and buildings, on thousands of T-shirts and in the conversations of the city’s residents.
In a country where football is almost a religion, Maradona remains a figure that many consider the greatest footballer of all time.
Kitty is 73 years old. She has two children and worked for many years as an office worker. Today she is the president of Sattvica, the company that manages the rights to the Maradona brand. She lives in a beautiful house in the La Paternal neighborhood, a gift from her brother.
Interviews
-What is your first memory of Diego?
“He’s always been connected to the ball. Ever since he was very little, the only thing he did was play football on the small field behind our house.”
-What was Diego like as a child?
“Shy and very attached to his mother. He was a spoiled child, a little naughty, but very generous and loving.”
-What was life like in the Maradona family in Villa Fiorito?
“We, the five sisters, helped our mother at home and often took care of Diego. Our father worked all day. It was a difficult period for our parents, because we often had no money, but we were very happy and united. Our mother and father tried not to lack anything for us, even though they were deprived of many things.
“My father worked from dawn to dusk in a factory that produced cement fibers for roofing. He was a hard worker. We grew up simply and with two principles: nothing is achieved without working and you should never do wrong, because everything comes back to you.”
-Diego has shown that your mother gave up food to feed you…
“I never understood this, but if Pelu said it, then it must have been true.”
-How did your parents treat you?
“For them, he was always the special son. His mother forgave him almost everything, while his father sometimes didn’t sleep just to accompany him to training. He never let him go alone.”
He would come home from work, change, wash, pick up Diego and take him to La Paternal, where Argentinos Juniors’ field was located. Diego, on the other hand, would walk almost every day with his friend Vachita to take his father’s lunch to the factory, which his mother would prepare.
“Mom was the one who made the rules at home. She had forbidden Diego from playing football in gym shoes, but he broke the rule and she would get angry. She gave him Pelu, because they were the only shoes he had.”
-And you, sisters, how were you with Diego?
“You were all very close to him, but he had a special relationship with Lili that he maintained until the day he died. When he was little and came back from football covered in mud, so he wouldn’t hear his mother screaming, Lili would fill a basin with water and wash him outside the house.”
-When did you realize that you had an extraordinary talent?
“When he was a child, we only understood that he was better than his friends.”
-Then came Cebollitas and Argentinos Juniors. Did your life change too?
“The big change came with Argentinos Juniors. Mom and dad were finally able to have a house of their own. It was a moment of great happiness. Diego said it was the best day of his life.”
-Who was his idol?
“He always said he wanted to play like Bochini.”
-What was his dream?
“He bought a big house for his mother and father. And he did. The family moved first to Lascano and then to Villa Devoto, to a very large house with a swimming pool.
Then, when he was 23, he bought a house for each of us. In 2019, a year before he died, he formalized the ownership. Maybe he had a premonition.
Last Christmas he gave us all a bouquet of flowers, the title deed and his brand. He said to us: ‘This way, when I die, you can be at peace.'”
-How were the relations between the brothers?
“I haven’t spoken to Lalo in four years. Hugo left Argentina when he was little and lived in the United States.”
-How did you experience Diego’s extraordinary fame and wealth?
“We never fully understood all that fame. We understood the love that people had for him, but to us he was just our brother. He treated us like that too.”
He didn’t act like Maradona, but like Pele. When he came home, we would laugh and joke. We would prepare his favorite foods: puchero, meat dishes, and asado. We would drink mate and talk for a long time.
“He never stopped visiting us. He really enjoyed talking to my husband Raul, who was a very good friend of his.”
-What about drug problems and illness?
“We only found out about the drugs the day the police went to arrest him at his apartment on Calle Franklin, in Caballito. Until then, we had never suspected anything like that.”
As for the illness, I prefer not to think about it. Life with him was wonderful and when he was ke“I don’t know why my brother died. That will be determined by the judges and myself, we were always by his side.”
-Diego died at only 60 years old. What do you think about his death?
“I don’t know why my brother died. The judges will determine that and I can only wait. The only thing I want today is for justice to be done.”
“It breaks my heart that we no longer have him with us. It’s been almost six years and I still can’t fully comprehend that he’s gone.”
-What is your most beautiful memory?
“If I had to choose one, I would say the last time we took a picture together. It was in 2020, a few months before he died.”
I stayed to sleep with him. We woke up at five in the morning, drank mate and talked for a long time. He hugged me and told me he loved me. It was very beautiful and emotional. It was his last goodbye.
“He also told other people things he had never told them before.”
-Today there is a big business around Maradona. How do you feel about this?
“I am not talking about this issue, because there is a court process.”
Kitty is under investigation as president of Sattvica, along with her sister Claudia Nora and four others, in a case related to the use of the Maradona brand. The lawsuit was filed by Diego’s daughters, Dalma and Gianinna, with whom she no longer has a relationship.
-What has Italy and Naples represented for your family?
“We sisters were in Naples when he played and something extraordinary happened there, which we hadn’t experienced even in Argentina.”
We couldn’t leave the house because people surrounded us. On the streets, in restaurants, everywhere there was an indescribable passion and love. We will never forget it.
“We returned after his death, walked around the city and found ourselves in a beautiful madness again. People recognized us and kissed our hands. It was an extraordinary happiness and, without a doubt, a love that will never end.”
-What is not known about Diego that only a sister could know?
“His tastes and passion for music. He loved dancing and singing. At every family gathering we sang and danced, especially at Christmas.”
-What part of life at Villa Fiorito would you like to experience again?
“Dinner, when we were all sitting together, laughing and joking.”
-What would you say to Diego if he came through that door right now?
“Thank you for everything, Pelu.”