Natalia Ginzburg (, ; ; 14 July 1916 – 7 October 1991) was an Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

years and

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and philosophy. She wrote novels, short stories and essays, for which she received the Strega Prize and Bagutta Prize. Most of her works were also translated into English and published in the United Kingdom and United States. An

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, for a time in the 1930s she belonged to the Italian Communist Party. In 1983, she was elected to Parliament from Rome as an

independent politician An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

Early life and education

Born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in 1916, Ginzburg spent most of her youth in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

with her family, as her father in 1919 took a position with the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

. Her father, Giuseppe Levi, a renowned Italian histologist, was born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Italian family, and her mother, Lidia Tanzi, was Catholic. Her parents were secular and raised Natalia, her sister Paola (who would marry

Adriano Olivetti Adriano Olivetti (11 April 1901 – 27 February 1960) was an Italian engineer, politician, and industrialist whose entrepreneurial activity thrived on the idea that profit should be reinvested for the benefits of the whole society. He was son of ...

) and her three brothers as atheists. Their home was a center of cultural life, as her parents invited intellectuals, activists and industrialists. At age 17 in 1933, Ginzburg published her first story, ''I bambini'', in the magazine '' Solaria''.

Marriage and family

In 1938, she married Leone Ginzburg, and they had three children together, Carlo, Andrea, and Alessandra. Their son

Carlo Ginzburg Carlo Ginzburg (; born April 15, 1939) is an Italian historian and proponent of the field of microhistory. He is best known for ''Il formaggio e i vermi'' (1976, English title: ''The Cheese and the Worms''), which examined the beliefs of an Ital ...

became a historian. Although Natalia Ginzburg was able to live relatively free of harassment during World War II, her husband Leone was sent into internal exile because of his anti-Fascist activities, assigned from 1941–1943 to a village in

Abruzzo , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1 ...

. She and their children lived most of the time with him. Opponents of the

regime, she and her husband secretly went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and edited an anti-Fascist newspaper, until Leone Ginzburg was arrested. He died in 1944 after suffering severe torture, including

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

, in jail. In 1950, Ginzburg married again, to

Gabriele Baldini Gabriele is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Surname * Al Gabriele, American comic book artist * Angel Gabriele (1956–2016), American comic book artist * Corrado Gabriele (born 1966), Italian pol ...

, a scholar of English literature. They lived in Rome. He died in 1969.

Career

After her marriage, she used the name "Natalia Ginzburg" (occasionally spelled " Ginzberg") on most subsequent publications. Her first novel was published under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

"Alessandra Tornimparte" in 1942, during Fascist Italy's most

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

period, when Jews were banned from publishing. Ginzburg spent much of the 1940s working for the publisher

Einaudi Einaudi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Luigi Einaudi (1874–1961), Italian politician *Mario Einaudi (1905–1994), Italian political scientist, son of Luigi *Giulio Einaudi (1912–1999), Italian publisher, son o ...

in Turin in addition to her creative writing. They published some of the leading figures of postwar Italy, including

Carlo Levi Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, communist, and doctor. He is best known for his book '' Cristo si è fermato a Eboli'' (''Christ Stopped at Eboli''), published in 1945, a memoir of ...

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

Cesare Pavese Cesare Pavese ( , ; 9 September 1908 – 27 August 1950) was an Italian novelist, poet, short story writer, translator, literary critic, and essayist. He is often referred to as one of the most influential Italian writers of his time. Early lif ...

and Italo Calvino. Ginzburg's second novel was published in 1947. The experiences that she and her husband had during the war altered her perception of her identification as a Jew. She thought deeply about the questions aroused by the war and the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, dealing with them in fiction and essays. She became supportive of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, arousing controversy among her circle, because she believed that Christ was a persecuted Jew. She opposed the removal of

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (La ...

es in public buildings but her purported conversion to Catholicism is controversial and most sources still consider her an "atheist Jewess". Beginning in 1950, when Ginzburg married again and moved to Rome, she entered the most prolific period of her literary career. During the next 20 years, she published most of the works for which she is best known. She and Baldini were deeply involved in the cultural life of the city. In 1964 she played the role of Mary of Bethany in

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

's '' The Gospel According to St. Matthew''. Ginzburg was politically involved throughout her life as an activist and

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topic ...

ist. Like many prominent anti-Fascists, for a time she belonged to the Italian Communist Party. She was elected to the Italian Parliament as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

in 1983.

Legacy

In 2020, New York Review of Books issued Ginzburg's novellas, ''Valentino'' and ''Sagittarius'', translated into English by Avril Bardoni in 1987, in a single volume. In her new introduction for this edition, Cynthia Zarin observed that location "maps the emotional terrain" in these two works as in Ginzburg's other works: the apartment, the living room, the café where events transpire. At a book talk to honor its debut, Zarin and the novelist Jhumpa Lahiri discussed the significance of Ginzburg's works and career.

Honors

*1952, Veillon International Prize for ''Tutti i nostri ieri'' *1963, Strega Prize for ''Lessico famigliare'' *1984, Bagutta Prize for ''La famiglia Manzoni'' *1991, Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

Selected works

Novels and short stories

* ''La strada che va in città'' (1942). ''The Road to the City'', transl.

Frances Frenaye Frances Frenaye (1908-1996) was an American translator of French and Italian literature.Eric Pace '' The New York Times'', April 15, 1998. She translated work by writers including Balzac, Carlo Levi, Ignazio Silone and Elie Wiesel. Works * Natal ...

(1949) – first published under the name Alessandra Tornimparte * ''È stato così'' (1947). ''The Dry Heart'', transl. Frances Frenaye (1949) * ''Tutti i nostri ieri'' (1952). ''A Light for Fools'' / ''All Our Yesterdays'', transl. Angus Davidson (1985) * ''Valentino'' (1957). ''Valentino'', transl. Avril Bardoni (1987) * ''Sagittario'' (1957). ''Sagittarius'', transl. Avril Bardoni (1987) * ''Le voci della sera'' (1961). ''Voices in the Evening'', transl. D.M. Low (1963) * ''Lessico famigliare'' (1963). ''

Family Sayings ''Family Sayings'' (Original title ''Lessico famigliare'') is a novel by the Italian author Natalia Ginzburg, first published in 1963. The book, which has also been published in English under the titles ''The Things We Used to Say'' and ''Family L ...

'', transl. D.M. Low (1963); ''The Things We Used to Say'', transl. Judith Woolf (1977); ''Family Lexicon'', transl. Jenny McPhee (2017) * ''Caro Michele'' (1973). ''No Way'', transl. Sheila Cudahy (1974); ''Dear Michael'', transl. Sheila Cudahy (1975); ''Happiness, As Such'', transl. Minna Zallman Proctor (2019) – adapted for the film '' Caro Michele'' (1976) * ''Famiglia'' (1977). ''Family'', transl. Beryl Stockman (1988) * ''La famiglia Manzoni'' (1983). ''The Manzoni Family'', transl. Marie Evans (1987) * ''La città e la casa'' (1984). ''The City and the House'', transl. Dick Davis (1986)

Essays

* ''Le piccole virtù'' (1962). ''The Little Virtues'', transl. Dick Davis (1985) * ''Mai devi domandarmi'' (1970). ''Never Must You Ask Me'', transl. Isabel Quigly (1970) – mostly articles published in ''La Stampa'' between 1968-1979 * ''Vita immaginaria'' (1974). ''A Place to Live: And Other Selected Essays'', transl.

Lynne Sharon Schwartz Lynne Sharon Schwartz (born March 19, 1939) is an American prose and poetry writer. Biography Schwartz grew up in Brooklyn, the second of three children of Jack M. Sharon, a lawyer and accountant, and Sarah Slatus Sharon; she married Harry Schw ...

(2002) * ''Serena Cruz o la vera giustizia'' (1990). ''Serena Cruz, or The Meaning of True Justice'', transl. Lynn Sharon Schwartz (2002) * ''È difficile parlare di sé'' (1999). ''It's Hard to Talk About Yourself'', transl. Louise Quirke (2003)

Dramatic works

* ''Ti ho sposato per allegria'' (1966). ''I Married You for Fun'', transl. Henry Reed (1969); ''I Married You to Cheer Myself Up'', transl. Wendell Ricketts (2008) * ''Fragola e panna'' (1966). ''The Strawberry Ice'', transl. Henry Reed (1973); ''Strawberry and Cream'', transl. Wendell Ricketts (2008) * ''La segretaria'' (1967). ''The Secretary'', transl. Wendell Ricketts (2008) * ''L'inserzione'' (1968). '' The Advertisement'', transl. Henry Reed (1968) – performed at the Old Vic, London, directed by

Sir Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage o ...

and starring Joan Plowright, in 1968. * ''Mai devi domandarmi'' (1970). ''Never Must You Ask Me'', transl. Isabel Quigly (1973) * ''La porta sbagliata'' (1968). ''The Wrong Door'', transl. Wendell Ricketts (2008) * ''Paese di mare'' (1968). ''A Town by the Sea'', transl. Wendell Ricketts (2008) * ''Dialogo'' (1970). ''Duologue'', transl. Henry Reed (1977); ''Dialogue'', transl. Wendell Ricketts (2008) * ''La parrucca'' (1973). ''The Wig'', transl. Henry Reed (1976); Jen Wienstein (2000); Wendell Ricketts (2008) * ''L'intervista'' (1988). ''The Interview'', transl. Wendell Ricketts (2008)

References

External links

Akshay Ahuja, Review of ''The Little Virtues''
''The Occasional Review'' blog
Acobas, Patrizia, "Natalia Ginzburg." ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''
1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on July 27, 2016) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ginzburg, Natalia 1916 births 1991 deaths Italian anti-fascists Politicians from Turin Italian women dramatists and playwrights Italian women novelists Italian women short story writers Strega Prize winners Italian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Italian politicians Levites Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Writers from Turin Jewish atheists Italian atheists Jewish anti-fascists Jewish socialists Jewish dramatists and playwrights Jewish women writers Jewish Italian writers 20th-century Italian women writers 20th-century Italian novelists Communist women writers 20th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian Jews