Piero Jahier (11 April 1884 – 10 September 1966) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Life

He was born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

into a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

family. His father was a

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

ese preacher whose work took them to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

. After the father's suicide in 1897, Jahier's mother took her six sons to her hometown of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He gained a scholarship and studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, but the family's financial difficulties forced him into full-time work at the railway. Nevertheless, he started to write articles, and, after meeting Giuseppe Prezzolini, he became involved with the periodical ''La Voce'', to which (under the pseudonym Gino Bianchi) he contributed a large number of book reviews and pieces coloured by his religious sensibility. In 1915 he published ''Resultanze'', a satirical "biography" of Gino Bianchi which presents his life as one long exercise in

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

, and which reflects Jahier's experiences in public administration. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was a volunteer and contributed to the trench newspaper ''L'Astico''. Afterwards he published a number of works, but largely ceased publishing in the 1920s as a result of the rise of

Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

, returning triumphantly after the liberation, when he received many honours. His poetry, with its heavy Biblical overtones, is comparable to that of

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

(which he translated into Italian), and contrasts with most Novecento work. However, it has been criticised for excessive political and moralistic content. His best-known poem is entitled simply ''Ragazzo'' ("Boy"). His translations are from English, French, and even (indirectly) Chinese. He died in

. He was married to Elena Rochot and had one daughter.

References

Bibliography

Piero Jahier
on

Enciclopedia Treccani Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani a ...

* Piero Jahier, Ragazzo, con bibliografia degli scritti di P. Jahier, edizione critica a cura di F. Pastorelli, Perugia, Morlacchi, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jahier, Piero 1884 births 1966 deaths Writers from Genoa Italian male poets Translators to Italian Translators from French English–Italian translators Italian male journalists Italian Protestants 20th-century Italian poets 20th-century Italian translators 20th-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian journalists