Raffaello Brignetti (born

Isola del Giglio Isola del Giglio (; ), or Giglio Island in English, is an Italian island and (municipality) in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Tuscany, and is part of the Province of Grosseto. The island is one of seven that form the Tuscan Archipelago, l ...

, 21 September 1921 - died

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, 7 February 1978) 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 ...

writer. He grew up on the island of

Elba Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...

where his father was a

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

. He moved to Rome in the middle of the Second World War, and spent a couple of years in German labour camps. He studied modern Italian literature at university, graduating in 1947. He was a disciple of Ungaretti, in common with other young idealistic intellectuals of his era such as Leone Piccioni, Silori Luigi, Mario Petrucciani, Elio Filippo Accrocca, etc. He embarked on a journalistic career in Rome, working in leading papers like '' Il Tempo'', '' Il Giornale d'Italia'' and the ''

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

''. In 1961, a car crash left Brignetti paralyzed. The ensuing years saw him at his most productive. He won the Premio Viareggio for ''Il gabbiano azzurro'' (1967), and the Premio Strega for ''La spiaggia d'oro'' (1971). He lived for a long time in the Medici tower of Marciana Marina on Elba and then in the small apartment at the foot of the tower. He died in 1978. The Isola d'Elba-Raffaele Brignetti Literary Prize is named after him. Brignetti's work is noted for its familiarity with, and treatment of, the sea and maritime life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brignetti, Raffaello 20th-century Italian novelists 1921 births 1978 deaths