Duca Lamberti is a fictional character created by the Ukrainian-born Italian writer

Giorgio Scerbanenco Giorgio Scerbanenco (; ; ; 18 July 1911 – 27 October 1969) was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian-born Italians, Italian crime fiction writer. Life and works Giorgio Scerbanenco was born in Kyiv, in what was then the Russian Empire. At an early age, h ...

. Lamberti is a physician turned detective and the main character in Scerbanenco's Milano Quartet of crime novels: '' A Private Venus'' (1966), '' Traitors to All'' (1966), '' I ragazzi del massacro'' (1968) and '' I milanesi ammazzano al sabato'' (1969). He has been portrayed on film by

Pier Paolo Capponi Pier Paolo Capponi (9 June 1938 – 15 February 2018) was an Italian actor and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Subiaco, after his studies Capponi attended a theater school and later was chosen by director Vittorio De Seta for an import ...

, Frank Wolff and

Bruno Cremer Bruno Jean Marie Cremer (6 October 1929 – 7 August 2010) was a French actor best known for portraying Jules Maigret on French television, from 1991 to 2005. Origins Bruno Cremer was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, in the eastern suburb ...

History and description

Duca Lamberti is the main character in four crime novels by the Ukrainian-born Italian writer

, conventionally known as the Milano Quartet, published from 1966 to 1969. The son of a police officer, he is a former physician who lost his medical licence after having performed

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

, and is approached by a colleague of his deceased father to help with a sensitive investigation in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. He eventually becomes an official police detective. Lamberti appears as a guilt-ridden and cynical misfit in the shadow of the Italian economic boom of the 1960s, and was written as a contrast to the shallowness of the mainstream culture of Milan at the time. He has similarities to the typical detectives of American

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

fiction, such as

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, despair, cynicism and

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

, but unlike them is committed to middle-class family life, although his family is unconventional. He contrasts not only to shallow post-war culture, but also to traditional Italian society, through his family which consists of his sister and her illegitimate child, and his girlfriend who is an eccentric philosophy teacher.

Bibliography

* '' A Private Venus'' (1966) * '' Traitors to All'' (1966) * '' I ragazzi del massacro'' (1968) * '' I milanesi ammazzano al sabato'' (1969) * ' (2007), short story anthology by various writers, edited by Gian Franco Orsi

Filmography

* '' Naked Violence'' (1969), based on ''I ragazzi del massacro'', directed by Fernando Di Leo and starring

* '' La morte risale a ieri sera'' (1970), based on ''I milanesi ammazzano al sabato'', directed by

Duccio Tessari Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns. Born in Genoa, Tessari started in the fifties as documentarist and as screenwriter ...

and starring Frank Wolff. * '' Safety Catch'' (1970), based on ''A Private Venus'', directed by

Yves Boisset Yves Félix Claude Boisset (14 March 1939 – 31 March 2025) was a French film director and screenwriter. Early life Boisset was born 14 March 1939, in Paris, France. He studied at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC). ...

and starring

Comics

* ''Venere privata. La prima indagine di Duca Lamberti'' (2022), based on ''A Private Venus'', by * ''Traditori di tutti'' (2024), based on ''Traitors to All'', by Paolo Bacilieri

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamberti, Duca Fictional Italian people in literature Literary characters introduced in 1966 Fictional physicians Fictional Italian detectives Fictional amateur detectives Characters in novels of the 20th century Fictional alcohol abusers Characters in Italian novels