Carmelo Samonà (17 March 1926 – 17 March 1990) was an Italian academic and writer, as well one of the most important Italian Hispanists.

Biography

He came from the Sicilian aristocratic family Samonà, and was the son of the architect

Giuseppe Samonà Giuseppe Samonà (1898–1983) was an Italian architect and urban planner, whose notable works include the post office in the Appio quarter of Rome (built 1933–6), the Banca d'Italia in Padua (1968) and a theatre in Sciacca, Sicily (1974� ...

. In 1936 he settled 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 ...

. From 1961 he taught

Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects wit ...

at the

La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

of Rome. Among his works as a Hispanist are, among others, his ''La letteratura spagnola dal Cid ai Re Cattolici'' (with , 1972). He was an Academic of the Lincei since 1987, and in 1984 was awarded the Juan Carlos Prize of the Spanish Academy. From 1976 he collaborated with the newspaper ''

la Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arno ...

'' with articles on modern Spanish and Hispano-American literature. Samonà is also remembered as a writer, having published two successful novels with : ''Fratelli'' (his 1978 debut novel, partially

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

) and ''Il custode'' (1983). ''Fratelli'' tells the story of the narrator's relationship with his brother suffering from a mental illness (in reality, it is Samonà's relationship with his son); he was the winner of the and finalist of the

Strega Prize The Strega Prize ( it, Premio Strega ) is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction written in the Italian language by an author of any nationality and first published ...

in 1978, finalist of the in 1985 and winner of the in 2002. The novel was subsequently republished by , included in the series ''Gli elefanti'', and in 2002 published by

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In ...

, in the

complete works The complete works of an artist, writer, musician, group, etc., is a collection of all of their cultural works. For example, ''Complete Works of Shakespeare'' is an edition containing all the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. A ''Complete W ...

entitled ''"Fratelli" e tutta l'opera narrativa'' edited and with a preface by Francesco Orlando. In addition to the two novels, Samonà wrote the short story ''Casa Landau'' (Garzanti, 1990) and the theatrical text ''Ultimo seminario''.

Works

Essays

* ''Profilo di storia della letteratura spagnola'', Veschi, Roma, 1960. * ''Calderon nella critica italiana,'' Feltrinelli, Milano 1960 * ''Studi sul romanzo sentimentale e cortese nella letteratura spagnola del Quattrocento'', vol. I, Carucci editore, Università di Roma, Roma, 1960. * ''La letteratura spagnola dal Cid ai Re cattolici'', in collaboration with Alberto Varvaro, Sansoni-Accademia, Firenze-Milano, 1972. * ''Della letteratura spagnola degli Secoli d'Oro'', in collaboration with Guido Mancini, Francesco Guazzelli, Alessandro Martinengo, Sansoni-Accademia, Firenze-Milano, 1973. * ''Ippogrifo violento'' (Studi su Calderòn, Lope e Tirso), preface by Mario Socrate, Garzanti, Milano, 1990.

Narrative

* ''Fratelli'', Einaudi, Torino 1978; Garzanti, Milano 1991; UTET, Torino 2006, with preface by Domenico Starnone * ''Il custode'', Einaudi, Torino 1983; Garzanti, Milano 1993 * ''Casa Landau'', with editorial note by Francesco Orlando, Garzanti, Milano 1990 * ''Fratelli e tutta l'opera narrativa,'' edited by Francesco Orlando, Mondadori, Milano 2002 ncludes ''Fratelli,'' ''Il custode, Casa Landau,'' the short story ''L'esitazione,'' the theatrical text ''Ultimo seminario'' and the prose of ''Cinque sogni''* ''Fratelli'', with an essay by Francesco Orlando, Sellerio, Palermo 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samona, Carmelo 1926 births 1990 deaths Italian Hispanists 20th-century Italian historians Writers from Palermo Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome