Gianna Manzini
Encyclopedia
Gianna Manzini was an Italian
writer whose Ritratto in piedi won her the Premio Campiello
in 1971. It is a semi-autobiographical portrait of her father, a noted Italian anarchist. After several banishments for his political activities, her anarchist father was exiled to the small hilltop town of Cutigliano
in 1921, fifteen miles northwest of Pistoia
, where he would die of a heart attack in 1925 after being chased by fascist hoodlums.
with her mother in 1916, to finish high school and attend the university, preparing to be a teacher. Manzini’s love affair with the art and architecture and cultural activities of Florence is described in her next-to-last novel, Ritratto in piedi (Full-length Portrait). “The new city, Florence, embraced me as I embraced it. I savored the happiness of being alive on that pavement, among those stones, close to the river, flung, cozied, sustained in its multiple movement. I was the ear against an enormous shell. And the city welcomed me, the accommodating and fabulous ear, to its heart. Buildings, stones, walls became horoscopes to me.” She taught school for only a few months. The first chapter of her novel Tempo inamorato appeared in the Florentine newspaper, La Nazione
, in 1924. This novel, published in 1928, was praised by Eugenio Montale
for its “intelligence” and “rare sensitivity.” With her short-story “Passeggiata,” published in 1929, she began her collaboration with the periodical Solaria (inaugurated in Florence in 1926 and closed down in 1936). The mission of Solaria was to bring into Italian letters the stimulus of innovative European writers such as Marcel Proust
, André Gide
, Virginia Woolf
, and James Joyce
, and Americans such as Ernest Hemingway
. This “solarium” was in reaction to the prevailing canon that championed the preservation of Italian classical literary tradition, expressed by Alessandro Manzoni
and Giacomo Leopardi
. Notable Italian literary figures such as Montale, Elio Vittorini
collaborated with Solaria. She married the literary critic of La Nazione, Bruno Fallaci, in 1930, a marriage doomed to early failure. Fallaci transferred to Milan in 1933 to write for Corriere della sera
. Manzini unceasingly reveals so much of herself in her writing: her literary intentions, failings, regrets, doubts, and memories. She is imprecise or contradictory about the specifics of her life, such as when she moved from Pistoia to Florence, her father’s age, the year she married. Some dates can be verified by letters and her diary in the Archivio di Gianna Manzini held by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
in Milan. Before the Archivio was made available scholars were often forced to make contradictory conjectures.
"l left Tuscany to settle in Rome: an event precipitating great change. Time took on a different tempo—rapid, obbligato—that offended the need for creative meandering where inspiration can rely on the winds of fortune that breathe from the quiet grace of things. The hours shattered in noisy big city traffic wasted the most intimate energies in obedience to a rule that the more exteriorly exacting it was the more alien it was to my deepest needs."
The 1940s and ‘50s were a time of intense literary activity. In tandem with Falqui’s Poesie, Manzini edited Prosa in 1945 and 1946, continuing her investigation of international literature. Her works appeared in such periodicals as Campo di Marte, Letteratura, Oggi, La Fiera Letteraria, Milano-Sera, and La Gazzetta del Popolo. Recognition for her writing grew with literary prizes awarded for Lettera all’editore (Premio Costume 1945), Valtzer del diavolo (Premio Soroptimist 1953), La Sparviera (Premio Viareggio 1956), Un’altra cosa (Premio Marzotto 1951), Allegro con disperazione (Premio Napoli 1968), and finally her last novel, Ritratto in piedi, was awarded the prestigious Premio Campiello
in 1971. Afflicted from childhood with lung weakness and a cough (the protagonist of La Sparviera), and finally dependent on oxygen, she died in Rome on August 31, 1974, five months after the death of her long-time companion.
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...
writer whose Ritratto in piedi won her the Premio Campiello
Premio Campiello
The Premio Campiello is an annual Italian literary prize.A Jury of Literary Experts identifies books published during the year and, in a public hearing, selects five of those as finalists. These books are called il Premio Selezione Campiello...
in 1971. It is a semi-autobiographical portrait of her father, a noted Italian anarchist. After several banishments for his political activities, her anarchist father was exiled to the small hilltop town of Cutigliano
Cutigliano
Cutigliano is a comune in the province of Pistoia in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km northwest of Florence and about 25 km northwest of Pistoia....
in 1921, fifteen miles northwest of Pistoia
Pistoia
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
, where he would die of a heart attack in 1925 after being chased by fascist hoodlums.
Life
Gianna Manzini’s mother was Leonilda Mazzoncini, born December 22, 1864 in Pistoia, and her father Giuseppe Manzini, born October 7, 1853 originally from Modena. Her childhood in Pistoia (Tuscany, twenty-five miles northwest of Florence) was spent in the anxious company of her mother’s family who, disapproving of her anarchist father’s beliefs and activities, was instrumental in causing her parents to separate. Gianna and her mother lived with her mother’s two sisters, and Gianna’s father lived in a rented room in Pistoia and had a clock repair shop on Via Orafo, where she would occasionally see his visiting anarchist friends. The emotional wrench of her parent’s separation and her deep love for the father she idolized and later repudiated, only to return full circle as an adult, is recounted in Ritratto in piedi (Full-Length Portrait). Not only did the family drama figure large in her literary creations, but also the Tuscan landscape played a prominent role, beginning with childhood impressions of Pistoia. “[The] beautiful blue mountains encircling it from east to west, breathing that pungent perfumed air, an exhilarating delight”. . . “some streets as narrow as corridors, mysterious as whispers (Via Ripa del Sale!) to stir me, open my eyes, bring out a sweet perversity, and protect me at the same time; there had been curves of well-defined activity to persuade me that I lived in a place made for me; those mountains in the background were my cape, my protection…”Life in Florence
Manzini moved to FlorenceFlorence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
with her mother in 1916, to finish high school and attend the university, preparing to be a teacher. Manzini’s love affair with the art and architecture and cultural activities of Florence is described in her next-to-last novel, Ritratto in piedi (Full-length Portrait). “The new city, Florence, embraced me as I embraced it. I savored the happiness of being alive on that pavement, among those stones, close to the river, flung, cozied, sustained in its multiple movement. I was the ear against an enormous shell. And the city welcomed me, the accommodating and fabulous ear, to its heart. Buildings, stones, walls became horoscopes to me.” She taught school for only a few months. The first chapter of her novel Tempo inamorato appeared in the Florentine newspaper, La Nazione
La Nazione
La Nazione is one of the oldest regional newspapers in Italy. It merged with Cavour's famous political newspaper, Il Risorgimento, in 1849. Based in Florence, Italy, it is published in numerous local editions for the regions of Tuscany, Umbria and for the Province of La Spezia in Liguria.-...
, in 1924. This novel, published in 1928, was praised by Eugenio Montale
Eugenio Montale
Eugenio Montale was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.- Early years :...
for its “intelligence” and “rare sensitivity.” With her short-story “Passeggiata,” published in 1929, she began her collaboration with the periodical Solaria (inaugurated in Florence in 1926 and closed down in 1936). The mission of Solaria was to bring into Italian letters the stimulus of innovative European writers such as Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
, André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
, Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, and James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, and Americans such as Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
. This “solarium” was in reaction to the prevailing canon that championed the preservation of Italian classical literary tradition, expressed by Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Manzoni was an Italian poet and novelist.He is famous for the novel The Betrothed , generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature...
and Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi was an Italian poet, essayist, philosopher, and philologist...
. Notable Italian literary figures such as Montale, Elio Vittorini
Elio Vittorini
Elio Vittorini was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work is the anti-fascist novel Conversations in Sicily, for which he was jailed when it was published in 1941. The first U.S...
collaborated with Solaria. She married the literary critic of La Nazione, Bruno Fallaci, in 1930, a marriage doomed to early failure. Fallaci transferred to Milan in 1933 to write for Corriere della sera
Corriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
. Manzini unceasingly reveals so much of herself in her writing: her literary intentions, failings, regrets, doubts, and memories. She is imprecise or contradictory about the specifics of her life, such as when she moved from Pistoia to Florence, her father’s age, the year she married. Some dates can be verified by letters and her diary in the Archivio di Gianna Manzini held by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore is the biggest publishing company in Italy.-History:Founded by the 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori in 1907 to publish the magazine titled Luce!, it soon became an important publisher. Its headquarters are in Milan....
in Milan. Before the Archivio was made available scholars were often forced to make contradictory conjectures.
Life in Rome
Sometime in the mid 1930’s Manzini met the well-known literary critic, Enrico Falqui, and moved to Rome where they lived until his death in March 1974, preceding her death only by a few months. The move to Rome affected her personally and stylistically, as she recounts in Lettera al editore: Game Plan for a Novel)."l left Tuscany to settle in Rome: an event precipitating great change. Time took on a different tempo—rapid, obbligato—that offended the need for creative meandering where inspiration can rely on the winds of fortune that breathe from the quiet grace of things. The hours shattered in noisy big city traffic wasted the most intimate energies in obedience to a rule that the more exteriorly exacting it was the more alien it was to my deepest needs."
The 1940s and ‘50s were a time of intense literary activity. In tandem with Falqui’s Poesie, Manzini edited Prosa in 1945 and 1946, continuing her investigation of international literature. Her works appeared in such periodicals as Campo di Marte, Letteratura, Oggi, La Fiera Letteraria, Milano-Sera, and La Gazzetta del Popolo. Recognition for her writing grew with literary prizes awarded for Lettera all’editore (Premio Costume 1945), Valtzer del diavolo (Premio Soroptimist 1953), La Sparviera (Premio Viareggio 1956), Un’altra cosa (Premio Marzotto 1951), Allegro con disperazione (Premio Napoli 1968), and finally her last novel, Ritratto in piedi, was awarded the prestigious Premio Campiello
Premio Campiello
The Premio Campiello is an annual Italian literary prize.A Jury of Literary Experts identifies books published during the year and, in a public hearing, selects five of those as finalists. These books are called il Premio Selezione Campiello...
in 1971. Afflicted from childhood with lung weakness and a cough (the protagonist of La Sparviera), and finally dependent on oxygen, she died in Rome on August 31, 1974, five months after the death of her long-time companion.