HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power to turn psychological
analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (3 ...
into good theatre." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. Pirandello's
tragic Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...
farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity or ...
s are often seen as forerunners of the
Theatre of the Absurd The Theatre of the Absurd (french: théâtre de l'absurde ) is a post– World War II designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s. It is also a term for the style o ...
.


Biography


Early life

Pirandello was born into an upper-class family in an area called "Caos" ("Chaos" in Italian, but in Sicilian dialect lit. "Trouser", from the shape of a nearby ravine), near
Porto Empedocle Porto Empedocle ( scn, 'a Marina) is a town and '' comune'' in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It was named after Empedocles, a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of t ...
, a poor suburb of Girgenti (
Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of ...
, a town in southern Sicily). His father, Stefano, belonged to a wealthy family involved in the sulphur industry, and his mother, Caterina Ricci Gramitto, was also of a well-to-do background, descending from a family of the bourgeois professional class of Agrigento. Both families, the Pirandellos and the Ricci Gramittos, were ferociously anti-
Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by B ...
and actively participated in the struggle for unification and democracy (" Il Risorgimento"). Stefano participated in the famous Expedition of the Thousand, later following Garibaldi all the way to the
battle of Aspromonte The Battle of Aspromonte, also known as the Day of Aspromonte ( it, Giornata dell'Aspromonte), was a minor engagement that took place on 29 August 1862, and was an inconclusive episode of the Italian unification process. It is named after the ne ...
, and Caterina, who had hardly reached the age of thirteen, was forced to accompany her father to
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, where he had been sent into exile by the Bourbon monarchy. But the open participation in the Garibaldian cause and the strong sense of idealism of those early years were quickly transformed, above all in Caterina, into an angry and bitter disappointment with the new reality created by the unification. Pirandello would eventually assimilate this sense of betrayal and resentment and express it in several of his poems and in his novel ''The Old and the Young''. It is also probable that this climate of disillusion inculcated in the young Luigi the sense of disproportion between ideals and reality which is recognizable in his essay on
humorism Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s ...
(''L'Umorismo''). Pirandello received his elementary education at home, but was much more fascinated by the fables and legends, somewhere between popular and magic, that his elderly servant Maria Stella used to recount to him than by anything scholastic or academic. By the age of twelve, he had already written his first tragedy. At the insistence of his father, he was registered at a technical school, but eventually switched to the study of the humanities at the '' ginnasio'', something which had always attracted him. In 1880, the Pirandello family moved to Palermo. It was here, in the capital of Sicily, that Luigi completed his high school education. He also began reading omnivorously, focusing, above all, on 19th-century Italian poets such as Giosuè Carducci and
Arturo Graf Arturo Graf (1848–1913), Italian poet, of German ancestry, was born at Athens, Greece. He was educated at the University of Naples and became a lecturer on Italian literature in Rome, till in 1876 he was appointed professor at Turin Turi ...
. He then started writing his first poems and fell in love with his cousin Lina. During this period, the first signs of serious differences arose between Luigi and his father; Luigi had discovered some notes revealing the existence of Stefano's extramarital relations. As a reaction to the ever-increasing distrust and disharmony that Luigi was developing toward his father, a man of a robust physique and crude manners, his attachment to his mother would continue growing to the point of profound veneration. This later expressed itself, after her death, in the moving pages of the novella ''Colloqui con i personaggi'' in 1915. His romantic feelings for his cousin, initially looked upon with disfavour, were suddenly taken very seriously by Lina's family. They demanded that Luigi abandon his studies and dedicate himself to the sulphur business so that he could immediately marry her. In 1886, during a vacation from school, Luigi went to visit the sulphur mines of
Porto Empedocle Porto Empedocle ( scn, 'a Marina) is a town and '' comune'' in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It was named after Empedocles, a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of t ...
and started working with his father. This experience was essential to him and would provide the basis for such stories as ''Il Fumo'', ''Ciàula scopre la Luna'' as well as some of the descriptions and background in the novel ''The Old and the Young''. The marriage, which had seemed imminent, was postponed. Pirandello then registered at the University of Palermo in the departments of Law and of Letters. The campus at Palermo, and above all the Department of Law, was the centre in those years of the vast movement which would eventually evolve into the
Fasci Siciliani The Fasci Siciliani , short for Fasci Siciliani dei Lavoratori (Sicilian Workers Leagues), were a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration, which arose in Sicily in the years between 1889 and 1894. The Fasci gained the support ...
. Although Pirandello was not an active member of this movement, he had close ties of friendship with its leading ideologists: Rosario Garibaldi Bosco, Enrico La Loggia, Giuseppe De Felice Giuffrida and Francesco De Luca.Biografia di Luigi Pirandello
, Biblioteca dei Classici italiani di Giuseppe Bonghi (Accessed 2 November 2010)


Higher education

In 1887, having definitively chosen the Department of Letters, he moved to Rome in order to continue his studies. But the encounter with the city, centre of the struggle for unification to which the families of his parents had participated with generous enthusiasm, was disappointing and nothing close to what he had expected. "When I arrived in Rome it was raining hard, it was night time and I felt like my heart was being crushed, but then I laughed like a man in the throes of desperation." Pirandello, who was an extremely sensitive moralist, finally had a chance to see for himself the irreducible decadence of the so-called heroes of the
Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
in the person of his uncle Rocco, now a greying and exhausted functionary of the prefecture who provided him with temporary lodgings in Rome. The "desperate laugh",the only manifestation of revenge for the disappointment undergone, inspired the bitter verses of his first collection of poems, ''Mal Giocondo'' (1889). But not all was negative; this first visit to Rome provided him with the opportunity to assiduously visit the many theatres of the capital: Il Nazionale, Il Valle, il Manzoni. "Oh the dramatic theatre! I will conquer it. I cannot enter into one without experiencing a strange sensation, an excitement of the blood through all my veins..." Because of a conflict with a Latin professor, he was forced to leave the University of Rome and went to
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr ...
with a letter of presentation from one of his other professors. The stay in Bonn, which lasted two years, was fervid with cultural life. He read the German romantics, Jean Paul,
Tieck Tieck may refer to: *Christian Friedrich Tieck (1776–1851), German sculptor *Dorothea Tieck (1799–1841), German translator *Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853), German poet ** 8056 Tieck, asteroid named after Ludwig Tieck ** Schlegel-Tieck Prize, literar ...
, Chamisso, Heinrich Heine and
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tre ...
. He began translating the '' Roman Elegies'' of Goethe, composed the ''Elegie Boreali'' in imitation of the style of the ''Roman Elegies'', and he began to meditate on the topic of humorism by way of the works of
Cecco Angiolieri Francesco Angiolieri, known as Cecco Angiolieri (; c. 1260 – c. 1312) was an Italian poet. Biography Cecco Angiolieri was born in Siena in 1260, son of Angioliero, who was himself the son of Angioliero Solafìca who was for several years a banke ...
. In March 1891 he received his doctorate in Romance Philology with a dissertation on the dialect of Agrigento: ''Sounds and Developments of Sounds in the Speech of Craperallis''.


Marriage

After a brief sojourn in Sicily, during which the planned marriage with his cousin was finally called off, he returned to Rome, where he became friends with a group of writer-journalists including Ugo Fleres, Tomaso Gnoli, Giustino Ferri and Luigi Capuana. Capuana encouraged Pirandello to dedicate himself to narrative writing. In 1893 he wrote his first important work, ''Marta Ajala'', which was published in 1901 as ''l'Esclusa''. In 1894 he published his first collection of short stories, ''Amori senza Amore''. He married in 1894 as well. Following his father's suggestion he married a shy, withdrawn girl of a good family of Agrigentine origin educated by the nuns of San Vincenzo: Maria Antonietta Portulano. The first years of matrimony brought on in him a new fervour for his studies and writings: his encounters with his friends and the discussions on art continued, more vivacious and stimulating than ever, while his family life, despite the complete incomprehension of his wife with respect to the artistic vocation of her husband, proceeded relatively tranquilly with the birth of two sons (Stefano and Fausto) and a daughter (Rosalia "Lietta"). In the meantime, Pirandello intensified his collaborations with newspaper editors and other journalists in magazines such as ''La Critica'' and ''La Tavola Rotonda'' in which he published, in 1895, the first part of the ''Dialoghi tra Il Gran Me e Il Piccolo Me''. In 1897 he accepted an offer to teach Italian at the Istituto Superiore di Magistero di Roma, and in the magazine '' Il Marzocco'' he published several more pages of the ''Dialogi''. In 1898, with Italo Falbo and Ugo Fleres, he founded the weekly ''Ariel'', in which he published the one-act play ''L'Epilogo'' (later changed to ''La Morsa'') and some novellas (La Scelta, Se...). The end of the 19th century and the beginnings of the 20th were a period of extreme productivity for Pirandello. In 1900, he published in ''Il Marzocco'' some of the most celebrated of his novellas (''Lumie di Sicilia'', ''La Paura del Sonno''...) and, in 1901, the collection of poems ''Zampogna''. In 1902 he published the first series of ''Beffe della Morte e della Vita'' and his second novel, ''Il Turno''.


Family disaster

The year 1903 was fundamental to the life of Pirandello. The flooding of the sulphur mines of
Aragona Aragona ( scn, Araùna or ''Raona'') is a commune in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, southern Italy. It is northeast of Agrigento. It is known mainly for the Macalube natural reserve and for being the Italian municipality with the highest ...
, in which his father Stefano had invested not only an enormous amount of his own capital but also Antonietta's dowry, precipitated the financial collapse of the family. Antonietta, after opening and reading the letter announcing the catastrophe, entered into a state of semi-
catatonia Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric behavioral syndrome that is characterized by abnormal movements, immobility, abnormal behaviors, and withdrawal. The onset of catatonia can be acute or subtle and symptoms can wax, wane, or change during ...
and underwent such a psychological shock that her mental balance remained profoundly and irremediably shaken. Pirandello, who had initially harboured thoughts of suicide, attempted to remedy the situation as best he could by increasing the number of his lessons in both Italian and German and asking for compensation from the magazines to which he had freely given away his writings and collaborations. In the magazine ''New Anthology'', directed by G. Cena, meanwhile, the novel which Pirandello had been writing while in this horrible situation (watching over his mentally ill wife at night after an entire day spent at work) began appearing in episodes. The title was ''Il Fu Mattia Pascal'' (''The Late Mattia Pascal''). This novel contains many autobiographical elements that have been fantastically re-elaborated. It was an immediate and resounding success. Translated into German in 1905, this novel paved the way to the notoriety and fame which allowed Pirandello to publish with the more important firms such as Treves, with whom he published, in 1906, another collection of novellas ''Erma Bifronte''. In 1908 he published a volume of essays entitled ''Arte e Scienza'' and the important essay ''L'Umorismo'', in which he initiated the legendary debate with
Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce (; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician, who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography and aesthetics. In most regards, Croce was a lib ...
that would continue with increasing bitterness and venom on both sides for many years. In 1905 he took his wife to stay in
Chianciano Terme Chianciano Terme is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about southeast of Siena. It is located between the Valdichiana and the Val d'Orcia. Chianciano Te ...
together with their children where they stay there for two months in what the writer called the ''village nestled on the windy hill'' right in ''opposite the Collegiata''. Two short stories contained in the book '' Short stories for a year'' are coveted in this country: '' Bitter water'' and '' Pallino and Mimì''. In 1909 the first part of ''I Vecchi e I Giovani'' was published in episodes. This novel retraces the history of the failure and repression of the
Fasci Siciliani The Fasci Siciliani , short for Fasci Siciliani dei Lavoratori (Sicilian Workers Leagues), were a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration, which arose in Sicily in the years between 1889 and 1894. The Fasci gained the support ...
in the period from 1893 to 1894. When the novel came out in 1913 Pirandello sent a copy of it to his parents for their fiftieth wedding anniversary along with a dedication which said that "their names, Stefano and Caterina, live heroically." However, while the mother is transfigured in the novel into the otherworldly figure of Caterina Laurentano, the father, represented by the husband of Caterina, Stefano Auriti, appears only in memories and flashbacks, since, as was acutely observed by
Leonardo Sciascia Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), '' Cadaveri Eccellen ...
, "he died censured in a Freudian sense by his son who, in the bottom of his soul, is his enemy." Also in 1909, Pirandello began his collaboration with the prestigious journal ''Corriere della Sera'' in which he published the novellas ''Mondo di Carta'' (''World of Paper''), ''La Giara'', and, in 1910, ''Non è una cosa seria'' and ''Pensaci, Giacomino!'' (''Think it over, Giacomino!'') At this point Pirandello's fame as a writer was continually increasing. His private life, however, was poisoned by the suspicion and obsessive jealousy of Antonietta who began turning physically violent. In 1911, while the publication of novellas and short stories continued, Pirandello finished his fourth novel, ''Suo Marito'', republished posthumously (1941), and completely revised in the first four chapters, with the title ''Giustino Roncella nato Boggiòlo''. During his life the author never republished this novel for reasons of discretion; within are implicit references to the writer
Grazia Deledda Grazia Maria Cosima Damiana Deledda (; 27 September 1871 – 15 August 1936), also known in Sardinian language as Gràssia or Gràtzia Deledda (), was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 "for her idealistically ...
. But the work which absorbed most of his energies at this time was the collection of stories ''La Vendetta del Cane'', ''Quando s'è capito il giuoco'', ''Il treno ha fischiato'', ''Filo d'aria'' and ''Berecche e la guerra''. They were all published from 1913 to 1914 and are all now considered classics of Italian literature.


First World War

As Italy entered the First World War, Pirandello's son Stefano volunteered for service and was taken prisoner by the
Austro-Hungarians Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
. In 1916 the actor Angelo Musco successfully recited the three-act comedy that the writer had extracted from the novella ''Pensaci, Giacomino!'' and the ''pastoral'' comedy '' Liolà''. In 1917 the collection of novellas ''E domani Lunedì'' (''And Tomorrow, Monday...'') was published, but the year was mostly marked by important theatrical representations: ''Così è (se vi pare)'' (''Right you are (if you think so)''), ''A birrita cu' i ciancianeddi'' and ''Il Piacere dell'onestà'' (''The Pleasure Of Honesty''). A year later, ''Ma non è una cosa seria'' (''But It's Nothing Serious'') and '' Il Gioco delle parti'' (''The Game of Roles'') were all produced on stage. Pirandello's son Stefano returned home when the war ended. In 1919 Pirandello had his wife placed in an asylum. The separation from his wife, despite her morbid jealousies and hallucinations, caused great suffering for Pirandello who, even as late as 1924, believed he could still properly care for her at home. She never left the asylum. 1920 was the year of comedies such as ''Tutto per bene'', ''Come prima meglio di prima'', and ''La Signora Morli''. In 1921, the ''Compagnia di Dario Niccodemi'' staged, at the Valle di Roma, the play, ''Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore'', '' Six Characters in Search of an Author''. It was a clamorous failure. The public divided into supporters and adversaries, the latter of whom shouted, "Asylum, Asylum!" The author, who was present at the performance with his daughter Lietta, left through a side exit to avoid the crowd of enemies. The same drama, however, was a great success when presented in Milan. In 1922 in Milan, ''Enrico IV'' was performed for the first time and was acclaimed universally as a success. Pirandello's international reputation was developing as well. The ''Sei personaggi'' was performed in London and New York.


Italy under the Fascists

Pirandello was an Italian nationalist and supported Fascism in a moderate way. In 1924 he wrote a letter to
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
asking him to be accepted as a member of the National Fascist Party. In 1925 Pirandello, with the help of Mussolini, assumed the artistic direction and ownership of the Teatro d'Arte di Roma, founded by the Gruppo degli Undici. He described himself as "a Fascist because I am Italian." For his devotion to Mussolini, the satirical magazine '' Il Becco Giallo'' used to call him ''P. Randello'' (''randello'' in Italian means
cudgel A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma cause ...
).Chiesa, Adolfo (1990
''La satira politica in Italia: con un'intervista a Tullio Pericoli''
p.38
Mussolini's support brought him international fame and a worldwide tour, introducing his work to London, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Germany, Argentina, and Brazil. He expressed publicly apolitical belief, saying "I'm apolitical, I'm only a man in the world." He had continuous conflicts with fascist leaders. In 1927 he tore his fascist membership card to pieces in front of the startled secretary-general of the Fascist Party. For the remainder of his life, Pirandello was always under close surveillance by the secret fascist police
OVRA The OVRA, whose most probable name was Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism ( it, Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the ...
. His play, ''The Giants of the Mountain'', has been interpreted as evidence of his realization that the fascists were hostile to culture; yet, during a later appearance in New York, Pirandello distributed a statement announcing his support of Italy's annexation of Abyssinia. He then gave his Nobel Prize medal to the Fascist government to be melted down as part of the 1935 ("Gold to the Fatherland") campaign during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Pirandello's conception of the theatre underwent a significant change at this point. The idea of the actor as an inevitable betrayer of the text, as in the ''Sei personaggi,'' gave way to the identification of the actor with the character that they play. The company took their act throughout the major cities of Europe, and the Pirandellian repertoire became increasingly well known. Between 1925 and 1926 Pirandello's last and perhaps greatest novel, '' Uno, Nessuno e Centomila'' (''One, No one and One Hundred Thousand''), was published serially in the magazine ''Fiera Letteraria''. He was one of the contributors of the nationalist women's magazine, '' Lidel'', and the Fascist daily ''
Il Tevere ''Il Tevere'' (Italian: ''The Tiber'') was a Fascist newspaper which was published in Rome, Kingdom of Italy, between 1924 and 1943. It is known for its founder, Benito Mussolini. History and profile ''Il Tevere'' was launched by Benito Mussolin ...
''.


Legacy

On 14 July 1930, a version of his short play '' The Man with the Flower in His Mouth'', adapted and produced by Lance Sieveking, co-produced with
John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly demo ...
's company,and starring
Val Gielgud Val Henry Gielgud (28 April 1900 – 30 November 1981) was an English actor, writer, director and broadcaster. He was a pioneer of radio drama for the BBC, and also directed the first ever drama to be produced in the newer medium of televisi ...
and Lionel Millard, became the first drama broadcast in both picture and sound when the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
showed it for London audiences. Pirandello was nominated ''Academic of Italy'' in 1929, and in 1934 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature after he had been nominated by
Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italian inventor and electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This led to Marconi bei ...
, member of the Royal Academy of Italy. He was the last Italian playwright to be chosen for the award until Dario Fo won on 9 October 1997. Pirandello died alone in his home at Via Bosio, Rome, on 10 December 1936. He refused a State funeral offered by Mussolini and only in 1947 were his cremated remains buried in Sicily. The Via Luigi Pirandello in
Acquaviva delle Fonti Acquaviva delle Fonti ( nap, label= Barese, Iacquavìve ; known as just Acquaviva until 1863) is an town and of 20,446 inhabitants, in the Metropolitan City of Bari, in Apulia, Italy. Acquaviva is famous for its characteristic red onions, which ha ...
is named after him.


Selected works


Major plays

* 1916: '' Liolà'' * 1917: '' Così è (se vi pare)'' (''So It Is (If You Think So)'') * 1917: '' Il piacere dell'onestà'' (''The Pleasure of Honesty'') * 1918: '' Il gioco delle parti'' (''The Rules of the Game'') * 1919: '' L'uomo, la bestia e la virtù'' (''Man, Beast and Virtue'') * 1921: '' Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore'' (''Six Characters in Search of an Author'') * 1922: ''
Enrico IV ''Henry IV'' ( ) is an Italian play ''(Enrico IV)'' by Luigi Pirandello written in 1921 and premiered to general acclaim at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan on 24 February 1922. A study on madness with comic and tragic elements, it is about a man ...
'' (''Henry IV'') * 1922: '' L'imbecille'' (''The Imbecile'') * 1922: ''
Vestire gli ignudi ''Vestire gli ignudi'' () is a 1953 Italian drama film directed by Marcello Pagliero and starring Gabriele Ferzetti. It is based on the play ''Vestire gli ignudi'' (''Clothing the Naked'') by Luigi Pirandello. Cast * Gabriele Ferzetti as Ludovi ...
'' (''To Clothe the Naked'') * 1923: '' L'uomo dal fiore in bocca'' (''The Man with the Flower in His Mouth'') * 1923: '' L'altro figlio'' ''(The Other Son)'' * 1923: '' La vita che ti diedi'' (''The Life I Gave You'') * 1924: '' Ciascuno a suo modo'' (''Each in His Own Way'') * 1924: '' Sagra del Signore della Nave'' (''The Rite of the Lord of the Ship'') * 1926: '' L'Amica delle Mogli'' (''The Friend of the Wives'') * 1926: '' Bellavita'' (''Bellavita'') * 1927: '' Diana e la Tuda'' (''Diana and Tuda'') * 1929: '' O di Uno o di Nessuno'' (''Either of One or of None'') * 1929: ''Come Tu Mi Vuoi'' (''How You Love Me'') * 1930: '' Questa sera si recita a soggetto'' (''Tonight We Improvise'')


Novels

* 1902: '' Il turno'' (''The Turn'') * 1904: '' Il fu Mattia Pascal'' (''The Late Mattia Pascal'') * 1908: '' L'esclusa'' (''The Excluded Woman'') * 1911: '' Suo marito'' (''Her Husband'') * 1913: '' I vecchi e i giovani'' (''The Old and the Young'') * 1915: '' Si Gira, Quaderni di Serafino Gubbio'' (''Shoot!, The Notebooks of Sarafino Gubbio, Cinematograph Operator'', 1926 English translation by C. K. Scott Moncrieff) * 1926: '' Uno, nessuno e centomila'' (''One, No One and One Hundred Thousand'')


Short stories

* 1922–37: '' Novelle per un anno'' (''Short Stories for a Year''), 15 volumes. A selection of thirty stories was translated by Virginia Jewiss as ''Stories for the Years'' (Yale, 2021).


Poetry

* 1889: ''Mal giocondo'' (''Playful Evil'') * 1891: ''Pasqua di Gea'' (''Easter of Gea'') * 1894: ''Pier Gudrò, 1809–1892'' * 1895: ''Elegie renane, 1889–90'' (''Rheinland Elegies'') * 1901: ''Zampogna'' (''The Bagpipe'') * 1909: ''Scamandro'' * 1912: ''Fuori di chiave'' (''Out of Tune'')


English translations

Nearly all of Pirandello's plays were translated into English by the actor
Robert Rietti Robert Rietti, (born Lucio Rietti; 8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015), was an actor, and Oscar-nominated director of Anglo-Italian descent. With over 200 credits to his name, he had a highly prolific career in the American, British and Ita ...
. Pirandello's poetry was translated for the first time in 2016 by George Hochfield.Luigi Pirandello
''Selected Poems of Luigi Pirandello,''
translated by George Hochfield (New York: Italica Press, 2016).
William Weaver is a noted translator of Luigi Pirandello. Frederick May translated a number of Pirandello's plays and short stories in editions published by Oxford University Press and Penguin Books.


Filmography

* ''Il crollo'', directed by Mario Gargiulo (Italy, 1920, based on the play ''Lumie di Sicilia'') * ''Il lume dell'altra casa'', directed by Ugo Gracci (Italy, 1920, based on the short story ''Il lume dell'altra casa'') * ', directed by
Augusto Genina Augusto Genina (28 January 1892 – 18 September 1957) was an Italian film pioneer. He was a movie producer and director. Biography Born in Rome, Genina was a drama critic and wrote comedies for the ''Il Mondo'' Magazine, under advise of Aldo ...
(Italy, 1920, based on the short story ''Lo scaldino'') * '' But It Isn't Serious'', directed by (Italy, 1921, based on the play ''Ma non è una cosa seria'') * ''La rosa'', directed by (Italy, 1921, based on the short story ''La rosa'') * '' The Voyage'', directed by Gennaro Righelli (Italy, 1921, based on the short story ''Il viaggio'') * ''
Feu Mathias Pascal ''Feu Mathias Pascal'' (''The late Matthias Pascal'') is a 1925 French silent film written and directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It was the first film adaptation of Luigi Pirandello's novel '' Il fu Mattia Pascal''. Background Since seeing a Paris ...
'', directed by Marcel L'Herbier (France, 1925, based on the novel ''Il fu Mattia Pascal'') * '' The Flight in the Night'', directed by
Amleto Palermi Amleto Palermi (11 July 1889 – 20 April 1941) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 70 films between 1914 and 1942. He directed '' The Old Lady'', which starred Vittorio De Sica in his first sound film. Sele ...
(Germany, 1926, based on the play ''Enrico IV'') * '' The Song of Love'', directed by Gennaro Righelli (Italy, 1930, based on the short story ''In silenzio'') ** '' La Dernière berceuse'', directed by Gennaro Righelli and Jean Cassagne (France, 1931, based on the short story ''In silenzio'') ** ', directed by Constantin J. David (Germany, 1931, based on the short story ''In silenzio'') *'' As You Desire Me'', directed by
George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940, he directed ...
(1932, based on the play ''Come tu mi vuoi'') * '' Steel'', directed by
Walter Ruttmann Walter Ruttmann (28 December 1887 – 15 July 1941) was a German cinematographer and film director, an important German abstract experimental film maker, along with Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling and Oskar Fischinger. He is best known for dir ...
(Italy, 1933, based on the story ''Giuoca, Pietro!'') * ', directed by Gennaro Righelli (Italy, 1936, based on the play ''Pensaci, Giacomino!'') * ''
But It's Nothing Serious ''But It's Nothing Serious'' (Italian: ''Ma non è una cosa seria'') is a 1936 Italian " white-telephones" romantic comedy film directed by Mario Camerini and starring Vittorio De Sica, Elisa Cegani and Assia Noris.Cardullo p.268 It is based on ...
'', directed by
Mario Camerini Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. The cousin of Augusto Genina, he made the most well-known films in Italy during the 1930s, most of them comedies starring Vittorio De Sica. H ...
(Italy, 1936, based on the play ''Ma non è una cosa seria'') ** '' The Man Who Couldn't Say No'', directed by
Mario Camerini Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. The cousin of Augusto Genina, he made the most well-known films in Italy during the 1930s, most of them comedies starring Vittorio De Sica. H ...
(Germany, 1938, based on the play ''Ma non è una cosa seria'') * '' The Man from Nowhere'', directed by Pierre Chenal (France, 1937, based on the novel ''Il fu Mattia Pascal'') ** ''
The Former Mattia Pascal '' The Former Mattia Pascal'' (Italian: ''Il fu Mattia Pascal'') is a 1937 Italian drama film directed by Pierre Chenal and starring Pierre Blanchar, Isa Miranda and Irma Gramatica.Landy p.155 It is based on the 1904 novel '' Il fu Mattia Pascal'' ...
'', directed by Pierre Chenal (Italy, 1937, based on the novel ''Il fu Mattia Pascal'') * ''
No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
'', directed by
Mario Baffico Mario Baffico (1907–1972) was an Italian screenwriter and film director.Nichols p.XXIV Selected filmography * '' The Dance of Time'' (1936) * ''No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area tha ...
(Italy, 1939, based on two short stories) * ', directed by
Giorgio Pastina Giorgio Pastina (1905–1956) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He directed '' Henry IV'', a 1943 film version of Luigi Pirandello's '' Henry IV''.Anile, Alberto, '' Orson Welles in Italy'' (Indiana University Press, 2013), p. 94 Sel ...
(Italy, 1943, based on the play ''Enrico IV'') * ''
This Love of Ours ''This Love of Ours'' is a 1945 American drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Merle Oberon, Claude Rains, Charles Korvin and Carl Esmond. The film's composer, Hans J. Salter, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original S ...
'', directed by
William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Hollywood primarily as a director for much of his ...
(1945, based on the play ''Come prima, meglio di prima'') * ''
Man, Beast and Virtue ''L'uomo, la bestia e la virtù'' (), internationally released as ''Man, Beast and Virtue'', is a 1953 Italian comedy film directed by Steno. It starred Italian comedian Totò and famed actor Orson Welles. The film was originally shot in Gevacol ...
'', directed by Steno (Italy, 1953, based on the play ''L'uomo, la bestia e la virtù'') * ''
Of Life and Love ''Of Life and Love'' ( it, Questa è la vita) is a 1954 Italian comedy film directed by Aldo Fabrizi, Giorgio Pastina, Mario Soldati and Luigi Zampa. Plot The film tells four episodes from stories written by Luigi Pirandello (from the work: ...
'', directed by Aldo Fabrizi,
Giorgio Pastina Giorgio Pastina (1905–1956) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He directed '' Henry IV'', a 1943 film version of Luigi Pirandello's '' Henry IV''.Anile, Alberto, '' Orson Welles in Italy'' (Indiana University Press, 2013), p. 94 Sel ...
, Mario Soldati and
Luigi Zampa Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director. Biography Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school Centro sperimentale di cinematografia in Rome. He directed several ...
(Italy, 1954, based on four short stories) * ''
Vestire gli ignudi ''Vestire gli ignudi'' () is a 1953 Italian drama film directed by Marcello Pagliero and starring Gabriele Ferzetti. It is based on the play ''Vestire gli ignudi'' (''Clothing the Naked'') by Luigi Pirandello. Cast * Gabriele Ferzetti as Ludovi ...
'', directed by
Marcello Pagliero Marcello Pagliero (15 January 1907 – 18 October 1980) was an Italian film director, actor, and screenwriter. Pagliero was born in London and died in Paris. He is perhaps best known for his performance in the Roberto Rossellini film ''Rome, O ...
(Italy, 1954, based on the play ''Vestire gli ignudi'') * '' Never Say Goodbye'', directed by
Jerry Hopper Harold Hankins Hopper (July 29, 1907 – December 17, 1988), known professionally as Jerry Hopper, was an American film and television director, active from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s. Early life Jerry Hopper was born in Guthrie, ...
(1956, based on the play ''Come prima, meglio di prima'') * ', directed by Carlos Rinaldi (Argentina, 1957, based on the play ''Tutto per bene'') * '' Liolà'', directed by
Alessandro Blasetti Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film '' Quattro passi fra le nuvole''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during ...
(Italy, 1963, based on the play ''Liolà'') * '' The Voyage'', directed by Vittorio De Sica (Italy, 1974, based on the short story ''Il viaggio'') * '' Il turno'', directed by
Tonino Cervi Tonino is an Italian and Spanish given name, surname or nickname. As a given name it is a diminutive form of Antonio in use in Italy, Spain, parts of the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, ...
(Italy, 1981, based on the novel ''Il turno'') * '' Henry IV'', directed by
Marco Bellocchio Marco Bellocchio (; born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Life and career Born in Bobbio, near Piacenza, Marco Bellocchio had a strict Catholic upbringing – his father was a lawyer, his mother a schooltea ...
(Italy, 1984, based on the play ''Enrico IV'') * '' Kaos'', directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Italy, 1984, based on four short stories) * '' The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal'', directed by Mario Monicelli (Italy, 1985, based on the novel ''Il fu Mattia Pascal'') * ''
You Laugh ''Tu ridi'' (internationally released as ''You Laugh'', ''Two Kidnappings'' and ''Kaos II'') is a 1998 Italian drama film. It is the second film adaptation based on short stories by Luigi Pirandello after Kaos directed by Paolo and Vittorio Tavia ...
'', directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Italy, 1998, based on two short stories) * ''
The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three chi ...
'', directed by
Marco Bellocchio Marco Bellocchio (; born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Life and career Born in Bobbio, near Piacenza, Marco Bellocchio had a strict Catholic upbringing – his father was a lawyer, his mother a schooltea ...
(Italy, 1999, based on the short story ''La balia'') * '' The Choice'', directed by Michele Placido (Italy, 2015, based on the play ''L'innesto'') * '' The Wait'', directed by Piero Messina (Italy, 2015, based on the play ''La vita che ti diedi'')


References


Further reading

* Giudice, Gaspare. ''Luigi Pirandello'', UTET, 1963. * Baccolo, L. ''Pirandello''. Milan: Bocca. 1949 (second edition). * Di Pietro, ''L. Pirandello''. Milano: Vita e Pensiero. 1950. (second edition). * Ferrante, R. ''Luigi Pirandello''. Firenze: Parenti. 1958. * Gardair, ''Pirandello e il Suo Doppio''. Rome: Abete. 1977. * Janner, A. ''Luigi Pirandello''. Firenze, La Nuova Italia. 1948. * Monti, M. ''Pirandello'', Palermo: Palumbo. 1974. * Moravia. A. "Pirandello" in ''Fiera Leteraria''. Rome. 12 December 1946. * Pancrazi, P. "L'altro Pirandello" In ''Scrittori Italiani del Novecento''. Bari: Laterza. 1939. * Pasini. F. ''Pirandello nell'arte e nella vita''. Padova. 1937. * Podestà. G. "Kafka e Pirandello." Humanitas, XI, 1956, pp. 230–44. * Sarah Zappulla Muscarà, Enzo Zappulla, ''Pirandello e il teatro siciliano'', Giuseppe Maimone Editore, Catania 1986. * Mirella Maugeri Salerno, ''Pirandello e dintorni'', Giuseppe Maimone Editore, Catania, 1987. * Sarah Zappulla Muscarà (a cura di), ''Narratori siciliani del secondo dopoguerra'', Giuseppe Maimone Editore, Catania 1990. * Elio Providenti (a cura di), ''Archeologie pirandelliane'', Giuseppe Maimone Editore, Catania, 1990. * Carlo Schirru, Per un’analisi interlinguistica d’epoca: Grazia Deledda e contemporanei, Rivista Italiana di Linguistica e di Dialettologia, Fabrizio Serra editore, Pisa-Roma, Anno XI, 2009, pp. 9–32. * Virdia. F. ''Pirandello''. Milan:Mursia. 1975. * Frederick May, ''Three Major Symbols in Four Plays by Pirandello'', Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press, 1974. * Massimo Colella, ''Ritratto, autoritratto, profezia. Nota su Bontempelli esegeta di Pirandello'', in «Pirandello Studies», 42, 2022.


External links

* * * *
List of Works
* *
The complete works of Pirandello in Italian and English section
*



* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090210204559/http://www.sicilytourguides.net/Pirandello_tour.htm Pirandello's Girgenti. Places in Agrigento associated with his literary works
Panoramic virtual tour of Piazza Luigi Pirandello in Agrigento

The Light from the House Opposite (The Panton Audio Library)
* ''Suo Marito,'' English translation
''Her Husband''
by Martha King and Mary Ann Frese Witt. * *
One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand
'' translated by William Weaver, published in 2018 by Spurl Editions {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirandello, Luigi 1867 births 1936 deaths People from Agrigento 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century male writers Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian fascists Italian Nobel laureates Italian poets Italian male poets Italian male short story writers Members of the Royal Academy of Italy Modernist theatre Modernist writers Nobel laureates in Literature Writers from the Province of Agrigento University of Bonn alumni Italian male novelists Italian male dramatists and playwrights