Gianfranco Calligarich (3 May 1939 – 25 November 2024) was an Italian novelist, screenwriter and dramatist.

Life and career

Born in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

to a family of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

origins, after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Calligarich moved with his family to

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 ...

, where he started working as a journalist. In 1961, he was sent by the magazine he worked for to Rome to run the local department, and from then on he settled in the capital. After writing a few short stories, in 1973 he released his debut novel ''Last Summer in the City'' ('' L'ultima estate in città''), which after having been rejected from all the major editors was published by

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 ...

upon suggestion of

Natalia Ginzburg Natalia Ginzburg (, ; ; 14 July 1916 – 7 October 1991) was an Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist years and World War II, and philosophy. She wrote novels, short stories and essays, f ...

. In the following years, Calligarich focused on television and film screenwriting, and in 1994 he founded the stage company Teatro XX Secolo. Calligarich made his literary return in 2002, with the collection of short stories ''Posta prioritaria'' ("Priority Mail"). In 2011, he won the

Bagutta Prize The Bagutta Prize is an Italian literary prize that is awarded annually to Italian writers. The prize originated among patrons of Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy ...

with ''Privati abissi'' ("Private abysses"), and in 2017 he won the

Viareggio Prize The Viareggio Prize ( or ) is an Italian literature, literary prize, first awarded in 1930. Named after the Tuscany, Tuscan city of Viareggio, it was conceived by three friends, , Carlo Salsa and Leonida Repaci, to rival the Milanese Bagutta Priz ...

with ''La malinconia dei Crusich'' ("Melancholy of the Crusichs"). Calligarich died on 25 November 2024, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Gianfranco Calligarich
at

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calligarich, Gianfranco 1939 births 2024 deaths People from Asmara 20th-century Italian novelists 21st-century Italian novelists Italian screenwriters Italian dramatists and playwrights Writers from Rome Viareggio Prize winners