Enrico Falqui
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Enrico Falqui (12 October 1901 – 16 March 1974) was an Italian writer and
literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...
.


Biography

Enrico Falqui was born in
Frattamaggiore Frattamaggiore (locally also known as Fratta) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. It is located north of Naples and southwest of Caserta. It was awarded the title of "City of art" in 2008 and named Benedictine ci ...
, a small market town on the northern fringes of
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
. Gaetano and Angelina Carlomagno Falqui, his parents, were originally from
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
. While he was still young the family relocated to Rome, where he grew up and embarked on a career as a literary critic. It becomes evident from autobiographical pieces that he was haunted by his lack of formal academic qualifications. Nevertheless, when " La Fiera Letteraria" transferred from Milan to Rome and was relaunched as "L'Italia Letteraria" in 1929, Falqui, still aged only 28, was installed as editor-in-chief under the directorship of
Giovanni Battista Angioletti Giovanni Battista Angioletti (27 November 1896 – 3 August 1961) was an Italian writer and journalist. Life Angioletti was born in Milan in 1896 and was gifted with a lively and reflective intelligence. His plans to qualify as an engineer w ...
and Umberto Fracchia. Falqui retained this editorship till 1936. He also found time, over the years, to contribute to various other literary periodicals, including "
Circoli ''Circoli'' was a bimonthly literary magazine published in Genoa, Italy, between 1931 and 1936. It was described as one of the most distinguished European magazines in 1934. History and profile ''Circoli'' was started in Genoa in 1931. Adriano ...
" (of which he was at one stage co-director with Adriano Grande), "Humanitas", "Quadrivio", "Pegaso", "Pan", "Primato", "Nuova Antologia" and even "Oggi". In 1930 Falqui teamed up with
Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work, in English speaking countries ...
to compile the anthology "Scrittori nuovi" (''"New writers"''). In 1935 he entered into a productive artistic collaboration with the Tuscan author
Gianna Manzini Gianna Manzini (24 March 1896 – 31 August 1974) was an Italian writer whose ''Ritratto in piedi'' won her the Premio Campiello in 1971. It is a semi-autobiographical portrait of her father, an Italian anarchist. After several banishments for hi ...
whom he had met the previous year. That year, their previous marriages having broken, they moved to Rome where they lived together till Falqui's death in 1974. In the mid-1930s Falqui also worked with the linguistics scholar Angelico Prati to produce what amounted to a substantial "maritime lexicon", the "Dizionario di marina medievale e moderna", published in 1937 by the "Accademia d'Italia". Later, during the
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
which broke out in September 1939, when he was writing for the
Gazzetta del Popolo ''Gazzetta del Popolo'' was an Italian daily newspaper founded in Turin, in northern Italy, on 16 June 1848. It ceased publication on 31 December 1983 after 135 years of operation. Italian novelist Alberto Moravia Alberto Pincherle (; 28 Nove ...
(Turin newspaper) and then, after returning home to Rome in 1944, for the recently launched Risorgimento Liberale (political daily newspaper), he continued to be resolute in defending the value of twentieth century Italian literature. Then, from 1948, he enhanced his reputation with his assiduous and well-judged editorship the culture page(s) of the mass-circulation daily, "
Il Tempo ''Il Tempo'' (English: "The Time") is a daily newspaper based in the city of Rome, Italy. History and profile ''Il Tempo'' was founded in Rome by Renato Angiolillo in 1944. At the initial phase the newspaper was a conservative publication and ...
". He became a particular champion of the works of
Dino Campana Dino Campana (20 August 1885 – 1 March 1932) was an Italian visionary poet. His fame rests on his only published book of poetry, the '' Canti Orfici'' ("Orphic Songs"), as well as his wild and erratic personality, including his ill-fated love ...
and
Curzio Malaparte Curzio Malaparte (; born Kurt Erich Suckert; 9 June 1898 – 19 July 1957) was an Italian writer, filmmaker, war correspondent and diplomat. Malaparte is best known outside Italy due to his works '' Kaputt'' (1944) and '' The Skin'' (1949). The ...
, discovering and promoting hitherto unpublished works of these (and other) authors. During his time with "L'Italia Letteraria" Falqui discovered and encouraged the illustrator known as "Scipione", whose distinctive style became integral to the look of the magazine. After Scipione's death from tuberculosis, Falqui kept the artist's memory alive: their correspondence was published in 1943. Earlier, between 1929 and 1931, Falqui had a consultancy contract with the Carabba publishing house in
Lanciano Lanciano (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It has 33,944 inhabitants as of 2023. The town is known for the first recorded Catholic Church, Catholic Miracle of Lanciano, Eucharis ...
. He commissioned "Scipione" to design some memorable covers for books such as "Il paese del melodramma" by Bruno Barilli, "Ossi di seppia" by
Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator. In 1975, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 'for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has ...
and "Prologhi – Viaggi – Favole" by Vincenzo Cardarelli. Falqui created and then oversaw the book series "Il centonovelle" with the Milanese publishers
Bompiani Bompiani is an Italian publishing house based in Milan. It was founded in 1929 by Valentino Bompiani. In 1990, Bompiani became part of the RCS MediaGroup. It was sold in 2015 to the Giunti Group. It is widely regarded as one of the leading liter ...
and well as the "Opera Prima" series with
Garzanti Garzanti s.r.l. is an Italian publishing company founded in Milan, Italy, in 1938. It is known for publishing school textbooks, dictionaries (such as the ''Dizionari Garzanti''), and encyclopedias (''Le Garzantine''). History The company was fo ...
and the "... nuovo filo di Arianna" series with Vallardi. In 1945 he founded the quarterly "Poesia" which he produced from his home in Rome-Prati till publication of it ceased at the end of 1948. Despite lasting only four years, the publication is still valued due to the quality of its contributors, many of whom were, or later became, widely appreciated poets.


Personal

Antonello Falqui, the son of Enrico and Alberta Falqui, was born in 1925 and later became a television producer, notably of variety shows. Enrico Falqui died unexpectedly at Rome on 16 March 1974. His partner,
Gianna Manzini Gianna Manzini (24 March 1896 – 31 August 1974) was an Italian writer whose ''Ritratto in piedi'' won her the Premio Campiello in 1971. It is a semi-autobiographical portrait of her father, an Italian anarchist. After several banishments for hi ...
, died less than half a year later.


Celebration

In 1976 Falqui's papers and thousands of his books were acquired by the Central National Library in Rome, where the "Sala Falqui" (''loosely, "Falqui collection"'') carries his name.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falqui, Enrico Writers from Rome 20th-century Italian non-fiction writers Italian bibliophiles Italian literary critics 1901 births 1974 deaths