Silvio D'Amico (3 February 1887 in

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 ...

– 1 April 1955 in Rome) was an Italian theatre critic, journalist, and theorist of Italian theater. Not a Fascist himself, D'Amico was the major theater critic during the ''ventennio'', the twenty years (1922-1945) of Fascist rule in Italy. He was the first editor of the nine volume ''Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo'' (''

Encyclopedia of Performing Arts The ''Encyclopedia of Performing Arts'' (Italian: ''Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo''; sometimes cited as ''Enciclopedio dello Spettacolo'') was an Italian language specialty encyclopedia of performing arts, published between 1954 and 1965. Its firs ...

''), published between 1954 and 1965, that covered theater, music, cinema, and dance. Most notably, he held an eminent position in theatrical study in Italy, giving his name to the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome, Italy's most prestigious drama school.

Biography

A Catholic, D'Amico was educated by Jesuits at Rome's Massimiliano Massimo Institute. After graduating in law in 1911, he was appointed to the Ministry of Education to the Directorate General for Antiquities and Fine Arts. In 1923, he became professor of theater history in the Royal School of Acting "Eleonora Duse." He met Duse when he was young and ambitious, a time when D'Amico wanted to create an Italian national theatre that produced works of young Italian playwrights. Between 1925 and 1940, he directed dramatic criticism in the ''

La Tribune ''La Tribune'' () is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH. From 1993 to 2007, ''La Tribune'' was part of LVMH. In 2010 ...

'' newspaper. With Nicola De Pirro, he founded the magazine ''

Scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally pi ...

'' in 1932 and they directed it together for three years, after which De Pirro continued alone. In 1934, he was appointed Special Commissioner for the reform of the drama school in Rome, and the following year, he became the head of the

Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico (translation: Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts) is a national drama school in Rome, Italy. Founded in 1936 by the theatrical theorist, critic, and writer Silvio D'Amico, the ac ...

Witt, p. 21 which, since the 1940s, has taught many of Italy's most successful actors. In the years after

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 ...

, he devoted most of his time at the academy. From 1937 to 1943, he directed the '' Rivista italiana del Dramma'', published by the Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori. From 1945 to 1955, he was the critic of '' Il Tempo''. He was a major contributor to the '' Teatro del Novecento'' encyclopedia, contributing to 11 of its volumes. D'Amico championed the works of the Italian

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

tist,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

, and short story writer

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian 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 ...

. In turn, Pirandello spoke of D'Amico as "the priest".

Personal life

He had at least two children. A son, Fedele D'Amico (nickname: Lele), who was a musicologist, married the Italian screenwriter,

Suso Cecchi d'Amico Suso Cecchi D'Amico (21 July 1914 – 31 July 2010) was an Italian screenwriter and actress. She won the 1980 David di Donatello Award for lifetime career. She worked with virtually all of the most celebrated post-war Italian film directors, and ...

, in 1938. Another son, Alessandro d'Amico, married Pirandello's granddaughter, Maria Luisa Aguirre. D'Amico's brother, Mario, worked on the ''Enciclopedia'' with him. He died in Rome in April 1955. At the news of his death, the theaters of the capital remained closed for mourning.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Amico, Silvio 1887 births 1955 deaths Historians of theatre Italian male journalists Italian theatre critics Writers from Rome Italian Roman Catholics Italian encyclopedists 20th-century Italian journalists Academic staff of the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico 20th-century Italian male writers