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Leonardo Sciascia
Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), '' Cadaveri Eccellenti'' (1976; ''Illustrious Corpses''), '' Todo Modo'' (also 1976) and '' Il giorno della civetta'' (1968; ''The Day of the Owl''). Biography Sciascia was born in Racalmuto, Sicily. In 1935, his family moved to Caltanissetta, where Sciascia studied under Vitaliano Brancati, who would become his model in writing and introduce him to French novelists. From Giuseppe Granata, future Communist member of the Italian Senate, Sciascia learned about the French Enlightenment and American literature. In 1944, he married Maria Andronico, an elementary school teacher in Racalmuto. In 1948, his brother committed suicide, an event which profoundly impacted Sciascia. Sciascia's first work, ''Favole della dittatura'' (''Fables of the Dictatorship''), a sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Chamber Of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. The Chamber of Deputies has 400 seats, of which 392 will be elected from Italian constituencies, and 8 from Italian citizens living abroad. Deputies are styled ''The Honourable'' (Italian: ''Onorevole'') and meet at Palazzo Montecitorio. Location The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is the ''Palazzo Montecitorio'', where it has met since 1871, shortly after the capital of the Kingdom of Italy was moved to Rome at the successful conclusion of the Italian unification ''Risorgimento'' movement. Previously, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy had been briefly at the ''Palazzo Carignano'' in Turin (1861–1865) and the ''Palazzo Vecchio'' in Florence (1865–1871). Under the Fascist regime o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emilio Greco
Emilio Greco (11 October 1913 in Catania, Sicily – 5 April 1995) was an Italian people, Italian sculpture, sculptor, engraver, medallist, writer and poet. He is best known for his monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world in museums such as - Tate Modern (London), Hermitage (Saint Petersburg) Museu Coleção Berardo (Lisbon), and Hawke's Bay Museum (New Zealand) Life Greco was born in Catania. In his early twenties he moved to Rome where he was drafted in the army and served in Albania. At the end of World War II, he had a studio in Villa Massimo in 1947. In 1958, he had a solo show at the Palazzo Barberini, and in 1959 a solo show at the Lenbachhaus, Stadtische Galerie, Munich. His most important exhibitions: in 1961 the Musée Rodin in Paris, and a one-man show at the Shirokjia Foundation in Tokyo; 1962 Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris; 1963 Fondaçao Calouste Goubelkian, Lisbon, and Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; 1965 "XXIV Biennale Nazionale d'Arte" M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polemic
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics. A person who writes polemics, or speaks polemically, is called a ''polemicist''. The word derives , . Polemics often concern questions in religion or politics. A polemical style of writing was common in Ancient Greece, as in the writings of the historian Polybius. Polemic again became common in medieval and early modern times. Since then, famous polemicists have included satirist Jonathan Swift; Italian physicist and mathematician Galileo; French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher Voltaire; Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy; socialist philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; novelist George Orwell; playwright George Bernard Shaw; communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin; psycholinguist Noam Chomsky; social critics Christ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi (; 15 November 1922 – 10 January 2015) was an Italian film director. His film ''The Mattei Affair'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Rosi's films, especially those of the 1960s and 1970s, often appeared to have political messages. While the topics for his later films became less politically oriented and more angled toward literature, he continued to direct until 1997, his last film being the adaptation of Primo Levi's book, ''The Truce''. At the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival 13 of his films were screened, in a section reserved for film-makers of outstanding quality and achievement. He received the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement, accompanied by the screening of his 1962 film '' Salvatore Giuliano''. In 2012 the Venice Biennale awarded Rosi the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Biography Origins and early career Rosi was born in Naples in 1922. His father worked in the shipping industry, but was also a cartoonist a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equal Danger
''Equal Danger'' ( Italian title: ''Il contesto'') is a 1971 detective novel by Leonardo Sciascia where a police inspector investigating a string of murders finds himself involved in existential political intrigues. Set in an indeterminate country this novel is informed by the corrupt politics and the Mafia of Sciascia's experiences in 1970s Sicily. Plot summary The book starts with the murder of District Attorney Vargas, who is prosecuting a high-profile case. The subsequent investigation failing, the police assign the protagonist Inspector Rogas, "the shrewdest investigator at the disposal of the police," to solve the case. While he is starting his investigation, two judges are killed. After Rogas discovers evidence of corruption surrounding the three government officials, he is encouraged by superiors "not to forage after gossip," but to trail the "crazy lunatic who for no reason whatever was going about murdering judges."p8 of ibid. This near admission of guilt drives Roga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Dubček
Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czechoslovakia) from January 1968 to April 1969. He attempted to reform the communist government during the Prague Spring but was forced to resign following the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968. During his leadership under the slogan "Socialism with a human face", Czechoslovakia lifted censorship on the media and liberalized society, fueling the so-called New Wave in filmography and paving the way for a period that became known as the Prague Spring. However, Dubček was put under pressure by Stalinists inside the party, as well as the Soviet leadership, who opposed the direction the country was taking and feared that Czechoslovakia could loosen ties with the Soviet Union and become more westernized. As a result, the country was invaded by Soviet- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corriere Della Sera
The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remained unchanged since its first edition in 1876. It reached a circulation of over 1 million under editor and co-owner Luigi Albertini, between 1900 and 1925. He was a strong opponent of socialism, of clericalism, and of Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti who was willing to compromise with those forces. Albertini's opposition to the Fascist regime forced the other co-owners to oust him in 1925. Today its main competitors are Rome's ''la Repubblica'' and Turin's '' La Stampa''. History and profile ''Corriere della Sera'' was first published on Sunday 5 March 1876 by Eugenio Torelli Viollier. In 1899 the paper began to offer a weekly illustrated supplement, ''La D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
To Each His Own (novel)
''To Each His Own'' (Italian title: ''A ciascuno il suo'') is a 1966 detective novel by Leonardo Sciascia in which an introverted academic (Professor Laurana), in attempting to solve a double-homicide, gets in too deep, with his naive interference in town politics.Set in an era of political corruption in Sicily and Italy as a whole; the novel deals with themes such as anomie, exclusion and identity. Plot summary Dr. Manno, the town pharmacist, receives an anonymous letter made up of newspaper cuttings. The letter contains a death threat, but is dismissed by the locals as a practical joke. However, when Dr. Manno and his hunting companion, Dr. Roscio, are found murdered the next day, it becomes quite apparent that the letter was intended to do more than simply frighten the pharmacist from engaging in his favourite pastime. Although the double-homicide is interesting gossip for the townspeople, nobody gives the motives for the murders a second thought, and it is assumed that the ph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicilian Mafia
The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily and dating to at least the 19th century. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organisational structure and code of conduct and honor and present themselves to the public under a common brand. The basic group is known as a "family", "clan", or ''cosca''. Each family claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (''borgata'') of a larger city, in which it operates its rackets. Its members call themselves " men of honour", although the public often refers to them as ''mafiosi''. By the 20th century, following wide-scale emigration from Sicily, mafiosi established gangs in North and South America which replicate the traditions and methods of their Sicilian ancestors. The Mafia's co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Day Of The Owl
''The Day of the Owl'' ( it, Il giorno della civetta ) is a crime novel about the Sicilian Mafia by Leonardo Sciascia, finished in 1960 and published in 1961. As the author wrote in his preface of the 1972 Italian edition, the novel was written at a time in which the existence of the Mafia itself was debated and often denied. Its publishing led to widespread debate and to renewed awareness of the phenomenon. The novel is inspired by the assassination of Accursio Miraglia, a communist trade unionist, at Sciacca in January 1947. Damiano Damiani directed a movie adaptation in 1968. Sciascia used this story as refutation against the Mafia and the corruption, apparent to his eyes, that led all the way to Rome. Plot In a small Sicilian town, early on a Saturday morning, a bus is about to leave the small to head to the marketplace in the next town nearby. A gunshot is heard and the figure running for the bus is shot twice in the back, with what is discovered as a ' (a sawn-off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Unification
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single state in 1861, the Kingdom of Italy. Inspired by the rebellions in the 1820s and 1830s against the outcome of the Congress of Vienna, the unification process was precipitated by the Revolutions of 1848, and reached completion in 1871 after the Capture of Rome and its designation as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Some of the states that had been targeted for unification ('' terre irredente'') did not join the Kingdom of Italy until 1918 after Italy defeated Austria-Hungary in the First World War. For this reason, historians sometimes describe the unification period as continuing past 1871, including activities during the late 19th century and the First World War (1915–1918), and reaching completion only with the Armistice of Villa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange which allocates products to everyone in the society.: "One widespread distinction was that socialism socialised production only while communism socialised production and consumption." Communist society also involves the absence of private property, social classes, money, and the state. Communists often seek a voluntary state of self-governance, but disagree on the means to this end. This reflects a distinction between a more libertarian approach of communization, revolutionary spontaneity, and workers' self-management, and a more vanguardist or communist party-driven approach through the development of a constitutional socialist st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
