Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo
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Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo (2 March 1868 – 6 May 1937), known under the pen name ignis, was an Italian poet and playwright. He is best known for his play ''Rumon: Sacrae Romae Origines'', first performed in 1923.


Early life

Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo was born in
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
on
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
on 2 March 1868. His father died when he was young, after which his mother moved with him to Rome. He gained a medical degree in
surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
and a second degree in
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
. He soon chose to not pursue a career related to his degrees, but to devote his time to becoming a writer.


Literary career

His literary output can be understood in the context of the anti-clerical tendencies during the
Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...
and the fall of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
. During this period, a part of the Italian intelligentsia entertained the idea of returning to paganism as a viable way forward. Musmeci adopted the pen name ''ignis'', which is Latin for "fire", because he regarded himself as a creative spark that would help to revive the Roman ''
mores Mores (, sometimes ; , plural form of singular , meaning "manner, custom, usage, or habit") are social norms that are widely observed within a particular society or culture. Mores determine what is considered morally acceptable or unacceptable ...
'' and
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
. He spelled the name with a lower case I to signify that he only was one of many such sparks. He participated in the intellectual milieu of the ''Caffé d'Aragno'', which included people such as Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Ardengo Soffici. Musmeci's poetry collection ''Carme a Roma'', published in 1914, contains the theme of a Roman pagan renaissance as well as hostility toward the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Also in 1914, his play ''Quando le colonne rovinano'' premiered in Rome and
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, ...
. His most significant work is ''Rumon: Sacrae Romae Origines'', a tragic play in five acts. It tells the mythological story of the
founding of Rome The founding of Rome was a prehistoric event or process later greatly embellished by Roman historians and poets. Archaeological evidence indicates that Rome developed from the gradual union of several hillfort, hilltop villages during the Prehi ...
, from the origin of
Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...
, to Romulus' ascencion to the heavens. On 21 April 1914, Musmeci recited the play in his home to a small audience of invited bohemians and literary critics. It received positive newspaper reviews and there were discussions about staging the play outdoors on the
Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; Classical Latin: ''Palatium''; Neo-Latin: ''Collis/Mons Palatinus''; ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the ...
, but Italy's entry in
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 ...
ended those plans. When the
National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...
came to power, Musmeci saw a new opportunity to get ''Rumon'' produced, thanks to the influence his friends Soffici and Giacomo Boni had on
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
. After some compromises, the third act of ''Rumon'' was performed on the Palatine Hill on 6 May 1923, starring prominent actors of the day. The reception was positive and several critics compared the performance to a
rite Rite may refer to: Religion * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite (Christianity), sacred rituals in the Christian religion * Ritual family, Christian liturgical traditions; often also called ''liturgical rites'' * Catholic particular ch ...
. The play was published in print in 1929, the same year as Mussolini signed the
Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty (; ) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between Italy under Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and ass ...
, which ended the hopes of those who like Musmeci had wished to see a pagan re-emergence under fascism.


Later life

Musmeci left the literary scene and became increasingly embittered with fascism. He devoted his time to study sculpture and divine proportions. In 1931 he published the book ''Appunti su la scoperta della "divina proporzione"'', which summarises his studies of Pythagorean numerology. He died in poverty in 1937.


Selected works

* ''Carme a Roma'' (1914) * ''Quando le colonne rovinano'' (1914) * ''Rumon: Sacrae Romae Origines'' (1914; printed in 1929) * ''Appunti su la scoperta della "divina proporzione"'' (1931)


References


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Sources

: : {{DEFAULTSORT:Musmeci, Roggero 1868 births 1937 deaths Italian male poets 20th-century Italian poets Italian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian modern pagans Modern pagan poets Writers from Palermo Italian fascists 20th-century Italian male writers UR Group