Ignazio Buttitta (19 September 1899 – 5 April 1997) was an Italian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

who wrote predominantly in Sicilian.

Biography

Born at Bagheria,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

into a merchant's family, after having taken part in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Buttitta joined the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Socialism, socialist and later Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the l ...

and around this time started to write poetry in Sicilian. His first volume of poetry published was ''Sintimintali'' (Sentimental), followed in 1928 by ''Marabedda''. Soon after, Buttitta relocated to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, where he achieved some success in the commercial world while continuing to pursue his passion for literature. Due to his political leanings, he had to leave Milan during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

; after which he joined the Resistance, was jailed by the fascists, and narrowly avoided the death penalty, before returning to Milan, where he spent time with Sicilian intellectuals such as

Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) 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 '' Co ...

Salvatore Quasimodo Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...

and

Renato Guttuso Renato Guttuso (26 December 1911 – 18 January 1987) was an Italian painter and politician. His best-known works include ''Flight from Etna'' (1938–39), ''Crucifixion'' (1941) and ''La Vucciria'' (1974). Guttuso also designed for the theatre ( ...

. In 1954 he published his new book of poetry, ''Lu pani si chiama pani'' (The bread is called bread), financed by the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

. In this volume he defined himself as ''Pueta e latru'' (Poet and thief), an allusion to the manner in which he would pass among the people like a thief, appropriating their feelings, leaving behind a sentimental thread. This was especially the case in relation to his nostalgia for his homeland, but there are also more socially-oriented themes, in particular, protests against the social situation of Italy and Sicily, such as ''A stragi di Purtedda'' (1947, about Salvatore Giuliano and the Portella della Ginestra massacre), and ''Lamentu per la morte di Turiddu Carnevale'' (1956, about Salvatore Carnevale - a Sicilian

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist from Sciara who was killed by

the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

on 16 May 1955 - and his mother Francesca Serio). In 1964 cantastorie and folk singer-songwriter Otello Profazio set to music several Buttitta's poems in the album ''Il treno del sole'' (also known as ''Profazio Canta Buttitta''). In 1972 Buttitta won the

Viareggio Prize The Viareggio Prize ( it, Premio Viareggio, italic=no or ) is an Italian literary prize, first awarded in 1930. Named after the Tuscan city of Viareggio, it was conceived by three friends, , Carlo Salsa and Leonida Rèpaci, to rival the Milanes ...

, for the volume ''Io faccio il poeta'' (I am a poet). His works have been translated into French,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. Buttitta, during his career as a poet, has never hidden his pride in being Sicilian, and his love for the language of the island. In one of his most famous poems, ''Lingua e dialettu'' (Language and dialect), he explicitly talks about language as a key issue for his people, and implores his fellows Sicilians to preserve their language: A contemporary Berlin-based Sicilian folk singer,

Etta Scollo Etta Scollo (born 27 May 1958) is an Italian singer and songwriter. Her music combines traditional Sicilian music, pop and jazz. Biography Born in Catania, Italy, she moved to Turin to study Architecture. She abandoned her studies to devote h ...

, celebrates the work of Sicilian folk singer and Buttitta associate,

Rosa Balistreri Rosa Balistreri (21 March 1927 – 20 September 1990) was an Italian singer and musician. Her hoarse voice charged with melancholy and strong personality made her a Sicilian icon of the twentieth century, much like the writer Leonardo Sciasci ...

, including rendering a version of Buttitta's ''The Pirates of Palermo'':

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttitta, Ignazio 1899 births 1997 deaths Italian male poets Italian resistance movement members People from Bagheria Writers from the Province of Palermo 20th-century Italian poets Sicilian-language poets 20th-century Italian male writers