Augusto Novelli (17 January 1867 – 7 November 1927), also known as Novellino, was an Italian Florentine satirical journalist, writer, and dramatist. A prolific playwright who completed more than fifty dramatic pieces (many in the Tuscan (Florentine) dialect), Novelli is critically regarded as one of the founding fathers of the modern Florentine

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

(dialect) theater.

Biography

Well known for his lifelong association with the city of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Augusto Novelli was born there on 17 January 1867. Largely self-educated, Novelli succeeded in becoming an erudite intellectual despite a minimal formal education that ended after three years of primary schooling.Bencistà, Alessandro (2008).
"La commedia in vernacolo fiorentino dall'abate Zannoni a Giovanni Nannini".
Retrieved 24 July 2010. Enthused by the creative world of the Italian theater from an early age, Novelli managed to complete the

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

''Una sfida ai bagni'' (''A Challenge to the Baths'') as a teenager and wrote early plays such as ''La capanna del veterano'' (''The Veteran's Cabin'') and ''La Società dei senza testa'' (''Society of the Headless'') in the 1880s. Having founded the satirical magazine ''Il vero Monello'' (''The True Rogue'') and become its

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

in 1888, he soon cast his attention on the cause of Florentine drama, which began to appear in Novelli's journal in the Florentine vernacular form in 1892.Haller, Hermann W. (1999). ''The Other Italy: The Literary Canon in Dialect''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 196. .Carlson, Matvin (1981). ''The Italian Stage from Goldoni to D'Annunzio''. Jefferson, N.C. and London: MacFarland & Company, Inc. p. 174. . As a politically active member of the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

from the beginning of his career, Novelli was hounded by the establishment as a young man, and in the 1890s was given a fifteen-month prison term as punishment for his adherence to the

socialist movement The history of socialism has its origins in the 1789 French Revolution and the changes which it brought, although it has precedents in earlier movements and ideas. ''The Communist Manifesto'' was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1847-4 ...

during a period of fierce political

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

.MacClintock, Lander (1951). ''The Age of Pirandello''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 113."La Libreria Chiari riscopre le commedie vernacolari di Augusto Novelli"
(15 February 2000). ''Nove da Firenze''. Retrieved 11 July 2010. (Despite this political martyrdom, Novelli would later be expelled by the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

's radical elements for being too

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

, or impermissibly moderate."Il vernacolo di Augusto Novelli"
(2003). ''Insieme a Carmignano''. Associazione Turistica Pro Loco di Carmignano. Retrieved 24 July 2010. ) Novelli's ''Il morticino'' (''The Dead Child''), a play written during his prison term, premiered in 1893 while the dramatist was still carrying on his work from behind bars.
Centre Culturel International Marco Polo. Retrieved 11 July 2010. The subsequent year witnessed the debut of Novelli's ''Purgatorio, Inferno, Paradiso'' (''Purgatory, Inferno, Paradise''). In

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

Freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

Samuel Porter Putnam Samuel Porter Putnam (July 23, 1838 - December 11, 1896) was an American freethinker, critic and publicist. Biography Putnam was born in Chichester, New Hampshire. His father was a minister of a Congregational church. He graduated from Dart ...

observed that "Novelli. . . was cheered when

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

on the charges of irreverence and

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

."Putnam, Samuel P. (1894).
400 Years of Freethought.
' New York: The Truth Seeker Company
p. 643.
/ref> The play critically regarded as Novelli's most notable theatrical work, ''L'acqua cheta'' (''Still Water''), first opened at Florence's Teatro Alfieri on 28 January 1908. Though since hailed as a classic masterpiece of Florentine comedyeven described as the beginning of the modern Florentine vernacular theaterthe work opened to mixed critical reviews that were largely negative, at first receiving a positive review from only one critic, Mario Ferrigni. It nonetheless enjoyed an overwhelming popular success among theater-goers. The play was later turned into an

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

after receiving a musical score from composer Giuseppe Pietri: the Novelli-Pietro operetta premiered on 27 November 1920 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The numerous other productions born out of Novelli's fruitful association with the Alfieri included the premieres of ''Acqua passata'' (''Water Under the Bridge'') in 1908; ''Casa mia'' (''My House''), ''L'ascensione'' (''The Ascension''), and ''L'Ave Maria'' (''Ave Maria'') in 1909; ''Gallina vecchia'' (''The Old Hen'') in 1911; ''La Cupola'' (''The Cupola'') in 1913; and ''Canapone'' in 1914. Aside from his two decades with ''Il vero Monello'', Novelli's contributions to periodicals included material for ''Firenze a zig-zag'' in 1912 and ''La Kultureide'' in 1916; Novelli's other efforts outside of drama included the 1902 ''Lotte sociali'' (''Social Struggles''), an original translation of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's notes regarding his participation in attempts to effect social and political change in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and ''Firenze presa sul serio'' (''Florence Taken Seriously''), a novel first published for the Florentine readership in 1902. (Novelli's novel ultimately reappeared in a 1908 edition illustrated by Gustavo Rosso and prefaced by author and politician Otello Masini.) Among Novelli's collaborators in the theatrical world was influential actor-manager Andrea Niccoli (1862–1917), historically memorable as an instrumental promoter of Novelli's ''L'acqua cheta'' and other plays.Noccioli, Guido, and Giovanni Pontiero (Ed.) (1982). ''Duse on Tour: Guido Noccioli's Diaries, 1906-1907''. Amherst:

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...

. p. 163. . Novelli died on 7 November 1927, in

Carmignano Carmignano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Prato, part of the Italian region Tuscany. It is located about west of Florence and about southwest of Prato. It is the centre of the wine region of the same name. Geography C ...

, aged sixty years and almost ten months at the timesome five years after

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

takeover of the country. He had spent his final years in seclusion from public life in the Tuscan's community about 20 km west of Florence, where a commemorative bust installed in the municipal chamber now honors him.

References

External links

Electronic version of ''Lotte sociali'' (1902)
ovelli's Italian translation of Victor Hugo in

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format from the Manuzio Project / Liber Liber {{DEFAULTSORT:Novelli, Augusto 1867 births 1927 deaths Journalists from Florence Italian male journalists Italian prisoners and detainees Italian socialists Writers from Florence People prosecuted for blasphemy Italian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century translators 20th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian translators 19th-century Italian male writers 19th-century journalists 20th-century Italian male writers