Sem Benelli (August 10, 1877 – December 18, 1949) was an Italian playwright, essayist and

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

. He provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's '' L'amore dei tre re'' and ''

L'incantesimo (“The Spell”) is a short opera in one act by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi. Its libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who had previously collaborated with the composer on his most famous opera, ''L'amore dei tre re''. Benelli fi ...

'', and

Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. His best-known work in that genre was Andrea Chénier (1896). He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Se ...

's '' La cena delle beffe'', based on Benelli's own play of the same title.

Biography

Sem Benelli was born in

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

on August 10, 1877. He studied at the Piarist school in Florence, where his chief teacher was the scholar Ermenegildo Pistelli. He achieved widespread recognition for his historical dramas in verse. The first of these was ''La maschera di Bruto'' (1908), in which Lorenzaccio, the murderer of Duke Alessandro de' Medici, is likened to the Roman politician

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

. The second and better known, '' The Jester's Supper'' (1909), is a theatrical adaptation of a story by

Antonio Francesco Grazzini Antonio Francesco Grazzini or Antonfrancesco Grazzini (March 22, 1503February 18, 1584) was an Italian Renaissance author." Biography He was born in Florence or in Staggia Senese (he wrote of himself: ') of a good family, but there is no record ...

set in Renaissance Florence. A revenge drama, it caught the popular taste of the period and its leading role, Giannetto, attracted great actors such as

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly a ...

and

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

. The play was a great New York theatre success in 1919 under the title ''The Jest'', starring Lionel and

. In Italy Paola Pezzaglia was considered the best male protagonist of ''La cena delle beffe'', after an incident in 1913 when the leading man collapsed before playing the character of Giannetto; she took his place achieving resounding success. Ever since Pezzaglia carried on doing the same role again and again. Benelli wrote the screenplay for the 1942 film '' The Jester's Supper'' based on his own famous play. Benelli's tragedies can be compared to D'Annunzio's for their use of verse, elaborate sets, and costume, but they had a stronger appeal to middle-class audiences and might usefully be regarded as caricatures of D'Annunzio's more lofty attempts at tragic revival. Benelli also wrote several prose plays; his bourgeois comedy, ''Tignola'' (1908), treated the same themes as Luigi Chiarelli's '' La maschera e il volto'' (1916) some eight years earlier. After serving 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 ...

, Benelli joined the Fascist movement, but left the party after the Matteotti affair (1924). The book Io in Africa (1936) gives his impressions of the war of Ethiopia, in which he served as a volunteer. At the outbreak of

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 ...

, however, he rejected Fascism again and emigrated to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, returning to Italy only after fall of the Fascist regime.

References

External links

* 1877 births 1949 deaths People from Prato Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian opera librettists Italian male dramatists and playwrights Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals {{Opera-bio-stub