Riccardo Bacchelli (; 19 April 1891 – 8 October 1985) was an Italian writer. In 1927 he was one of the founders of the review ''La Ronda'' and Bagutta Prize for literature. He was nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

eight times.

Career

His first novel was ''Il filo meraviglioso di Lodovico Clo'' (''The wonderful thread of Lodovico Clo''). Next was ''Lo sa il tonno'' (1923). Other works include ''Il Diavolo al Pontelungo'' (1927) and ''La città degli amanti'' (''The City of Lovers'', 1929). His most popular work remains ''Il mulino del Po'' ('' The Mill on the Po'') (1938–1940), which covered a century in the life of a rural family. A film adapted from the novel was released in 1949. Later novels, published from 1945 to 1978, include: ''Il pianto del figlio di Lais, Non ti chiamerò più padre, La cometa'', ''Il rapporto segreto'' (''The secret relationship''), ''Afrodite: un romanzo d'amore'' (''Aphrodite: a love novel''), ''Il progresso è un razzo'' (''Progress is a rocket'') and ''Il sommergibile'' (''The submarine''). Riccardo Bacchelli was elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Italy. He was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

in 1971.

''Il mulino del Po''

Nino Rota Riccardo Bacchelli e Bruno Maderna

The novel narrates in more than 2000 pages the lives, adventures and problems of Lazzaro Scacerni and his family. It opens in the early 19th century as Scacerni returns to Italy from Russia, where he had served as a soldier of Napoleon's invasion, and follows him and his family through a full century until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Scacerni owns a mill in a rural area on the river Po (hence the title). He and his descendants conduct their lives amid political turmoil, wars, economic hardship, and class conflicts. The historical, geographical and social background was painstakingly researched by Bacchelli, who created a large and comprehensive portrait of life in rural Italy in the 19th century. The language and style of this novel show that Bacchelli held

Alessandro Manzoni Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni (, , ; 7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel '' The Betrothed'' (orig. it, I promessi sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the maste ...

as his model. At the same time, he created a structure that showed his attention to contemporary European novels.

Honour

* : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (19 April 1971)

References

External links

* * http://www.maat.it/livello2/fascismo-manifesto.htm * http://www.riccardobacchelli.it/ 1891 births 1985 deaths Writers from Bologna 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century Italian male writers Viareggio Prize winners Members of the Royal Academy of Italy Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic {{Italy-writer-stub