Edoardo Scarfoglio
Encyclopedia
Edoardo Scarfoglio was an Italian author and journalist, one of the early practitioners in Italian fiction of realism
, a style of writing that embraced direct, colloquial language and rejected the more ornate style of earlier Italian literature.
, in the Abruzzi region of Italy
, but lived and worked in Naples
much of his life.
As a writer of fiction, his early reputation rests on the novella The Trial of Phryne, published in 1884, a retelling—set in contemporary small-town Italy- of the trial of Phryne, a Greek courtesan from the fourth century, BCE. In Scarfoglio's version, a young woman, Mariantonia, guilty of murder, is acquitted simply because she is beautiful. Scarfoglio's tale is well known even to Italians who have not actually read the novella
, since it was the basis for an episode in Alessandro Blasetti
's popular 1952 film Altri tempi (Other Times), starring Gina Lollobrigida
as Phryne/Mariantonia.
As a journalist, Scarfoglio and his wife, Matilde Serao
, the best-known woman writer in Italy at the time, founded a number of newspapers: Corriere di Roma, the Corriere di Napoli, the Ora of Palermo, and, the most prominent, Il Mattino
in Naples, still the largest daily newspaper in the city. His name is chiefly associated with the latter paper, which he owned and edited for many years.
He and his wife were responsible for moving Naples into the mainstream of Italian journalism in the early twentieth century by serializing the works of writers such as D'Annunzio. As an editorialist in his own paper, Scarfoglio supported such policies as Italian expansionism in Africa
and the Aegean
in the 1890s. He is the father of journalists Carlo Scarfoglio and Antonio Scarfoglio
.
Literary realism
Literary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authors in various countries, towards depictions of contemporary life and society "as they were." In the spirit of...
, a style of writing that embraced direct, colloquial language and rejected the more ornate style of earlier Italian literature.
Biography
Scarfoglio was born in PaganicaPaganica
Paganica is a hillside town in the province of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of L'Aquila , and has a population of about 7,000.-History:...
, in the Abruzzi region of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, but lived and worked in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
much of his life.
As a writer of fiction, his early reputation rests on the novella The Trial of Phryne, published in 1884, a retelling—set in contemporary small-town Italy- of the trial of Phryne, a Greek courtesan from the fourth century, BCE. In Scarfoglio's version, a young woman, Mariantonia, guilty of murder, is acquitted simply because she is beautiful. Scarfoglio's tale is well known even to Italians who have not actually read the novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
, since it was the basis for an episode in Alessandro Blasetti
Alessandro Blasetti
Alessandro Blasetti was an Italian film director who influenced Italian neorealism with the film Quattro passi fra le nuvole...
's popular 1952 film Altri tempi (Other Times), starring Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...
as Phryne/Mariantonia.
As a journalist, Scarfoglio and his wife, Matilde Serao
Matilde Serao
frame|Matilde Serao.Matilde Serao was a Greek-born Italian journalist and novelist. She was the founder and editor of Il Mattino, and she also wrote several novels.-Biography:...
, the best-known woman writer in Italy at the time, founded a number of newspapers: Corriere di Roma, the Corriere di Napoli, the Ora of Palermo, and, the most prominent, Il Mattino
Il Mattino
Il Mattino is an Italian daily newspaper, founded in 1892 in Naples, Italy, by the journalists Eduardo Scarfoglio and Matilde Serao.Based on 2008 survey data from Accertamenti Diffusione Stampa, Il Mattino is the most read daily newspaper in Campania, and one of the most read in southern...
in Naples, still the largest daily newspaper in the city. His name is chiefly associated with the latter paper, which he owned and edited for many years.
He and his wife were responsible for moving Naples into the mainstream of Italian journalism in the early twentieth century by serializing the works of writers such as D'Annunzio. As an editorialist in his own paper, Scarfoglio supported such policies as Italian expansionism in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
in the 1890s. He is the father of journalists Carlo Scarfoglio and Antonio Scarfoglio
Antonio Scarfoglio
Antonio Scarfoglio , Neapolitan journalist and author. Antonio Scarfoglio was the son of Edoardo Scarfoglio and Matilde Serao, both well-known Neapolitan writers of the turn of the 20th century and founders of il Mattino, the large Neapolitan daily newspaper. He broke into reporting with a dramatic...
.