ANNIE MESSINA was the daughter of an Italian consul general in Egypt, and lived much of her life in that country, studied art, worked as a translator and, like her aunt (Maria Messina, 1887-1944), never married.
Her literary output is small. Three works were published under her own name in with modest success: The Wedding Journey of Maria Isabel, Chronicles of the Nile, and The Magic Potion.
The Myrtle and the Rose (1982) and its sequel La Palm of Rusafa (1989) were published under her pseudonym Gamîla Ghâli. Annie Messina died in Rome on February 27, 1996.