Clara Sereni (28 August 1946 – 25 July 2018) was an Italian writer of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent. She was born and married in Rome where she remained until 1991. Then she moved to

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

. She became known to critics and the public with her first book, ''Sigma Epsilon'' (1974), an autobiographical revisiting of the frenzied political times marking her generation. Her second work, ''Casalinghitudine'', written thirteen years later, is a kind of recipe book where each dish is linked with a particular moment of her own past, an indelible memory. Her popularity increased with short stories, such as ''Manicomio primavera'' (1989) and the novel ''Il gioco dei regni'' (1993), which won her two literary prizes. Sereni's activities also span the social and political arenas. In the

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

n capital of

she was elected Deputy Mayor, with the Social Policies portfolio, from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, following a difficult personal situation (her son Matteo has been affected by

psychosis In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or inco ...

from birth), Sereni promoted the ''Città del sole'' NGO Foundation (becoming its President) – a charity

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

organisation for the disabled and gravely afflicted. She was also a columnist for the Italian newspapers ''

l'Unità (; English: "the Unity") is an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of the Left, a ...

'' and ''

Il Manifesto (; English: "the manifesto") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Rome, Italy. While calling itself " communist" and broadly left-wing, it is not connected to any political party A political party is an organization that coordin ...

'', and translated and edited works by Balzac,

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...

Madame de la Fayette Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette (baptized 18 March 1634 – 25 May 1693), better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer; she authored ''La Princesse de Clèves'', France's first historical novel and one ...

. Moreover, she reviewed many books, among which in 1996 the important ''Si può (You can)'', where five Italian journalists (

Lucia Annunziata Lucia Annunziata (born 8 August 1950) is an Italian journalist and politician. She was chairperson of RAI between 2003 and 2004. Annunziata will be the Democratic Party top candidate in the Southern Italy constituency for the 2024 European Par ...

, Gad Lerner, Barbara Palombelli, Oreste Pivetta and

Gianni Riotta Gianni Riotta (born 12 January 1954 in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian journalist, a regular contributor for the daily newspaper La Stampa and a former editor-in-chief of the financial newspaper ''Il Sole 24 Ore'', Rai 3 and the news bulletin TG1 ...

) narrate a positive story of integration into society of the mentally disabled. In 2003 she won the

Grinzane Cavour Prize The Grinzane Cavour Prize (1982–2009) was an Italian literary award established in 1982 by Francesco Meotto. The annual award ceremony took place in the medieval castle of Grinzane Cavour. The goal of the prize was to attract young people to re ...

for Literature. In 2004 Sereni took part in the documentary movie ''Un silenzio particolare (A Particular Silence)'', directed by her husband Stefano Rulli, on their mutual experience of life with their son Matteo, also in the movie.

Bibliography

*''Sigma epsilon'', Marsilio, 1974 *''Casalinghitudine (Housewifery)'', Einaudi, 1987 *''Manicomio Primavera (Spring Madhouse)'', Giunti, 1989 *''Il gioco dei regni (The Play of Kingdoms)'', Giunti, 1993 (Prize of the Lucca Readers and Marotta Prize) *''Eppure (However)'' Feltrinelli, 1995 *''Taccuino di un'ultimista (An Ultimist Notebook)'', Feltrinelli, 1998 *''Da un grigio all'altro (From one grey to the other)'', Di Renzo, 1998 *''Passami il sale (Pass the Salt)'', Rizzoli, 2002 (the Pisa National Literary Prize) *''Le Merendanze (Snackers)'', Rizzoli, 2004 *''Il lupo mercante (The Merchant Wolf)'', Rizzoli, 2007

References

External links

*Paolo Di Paolo,
'' Vissuto da pelle femminile''
'. Interview with Clara Sereni on ''ItaliaLibri''
"Food and Subjectivity in Clara Sereni's ''Casalinghitudine'', on ''Italica'' 1994
(JStor)
"Consuming Women and Animals in Clara Sereni's Casalinghitudine", on ''Italica'' 1999
(JStor)
''Keeping House'', by Clara Sereni, et al.
(on Googlebooks) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sereni, Clara 1946 births 2018 deaths Italian women novelists Italian people of Jewish descent Writers from Rome Italian columnists Italian women columnists 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century Italian women writers 21st-century Italian novelists 21st-century Italian women writers 20th-century Italian translators 21st-century Italian translators 20th-century Italian women politicians 20th-century Italian politicians 21st-century Italian journalists 21st-century Italian women journalists 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian women journalists