Beppe Fenoglio (; born Giuseppe Fenoglio 1 March 1922 in

Alba (CN) Alba ( pms, label=Piedmontese Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in ...

– 18 February 1963 in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

) was an Italian writer, partisan and translator from English. The works of Fenoglio have two main themes: the rural world of the

Langhe The Langhe (; ''Langa'' is from old dialect Mons Langa et Bassa Langa) is a hilly area to the south and east of the river Tanaro in the province of Cuneo and in the province of Asti in Piedmont, northern Italy. It is famous for its wines, chees ...

and the

Italian resistance movement The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

, both largely inspired by his own personal experiences in them; equally, the writer has two styles: the chronicle and the ''epos''. Fenoglio was drafted in 1943; before he completed officer school, Italy surrendered to the Allies and Germany attacked and occupied most of Italy. Like most of

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

, the training unit of Fenoglio collapsed; he adventurously travelled back home from Rome, and spent months in hiding before joining the partisans in January 1944. After fighting till the end of the war, he translated a number of books from English and wrote the works he is known for while working for a winery in Alba. His first work was in the neorealist style: ''La paga del sabato'' (this was published posthumously too, in 1969). The novel was turned down by

Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work is the anti-fascist novel '' Co ...

, who advised Fenoglio to carve out stories and then incorporate them into ''I ventitré giorni della città di Alba'' ("The twenty-three days of the city of Alba") (1952). These stories were a chronicle of the Italian partisans or of rural life. One such story was ''La malora'' (1954), a long story in the style of

Giovanni Verga Giovanni Carmelo Verga di Fontanabianca (; 2 September 1840 – 27 January 1922) was an Italian realist ('' verista'') writer, best known for his depictions of life in his native Sicily, especially the short story and later play ''Cavalleria ...

. His major works were published in a critical edition after his death; controversy remains about his novel ''Il partigiano Johnny'' (translated as ''Johnny the Partisan''), first published in 1968, by some considered his best work, which was edited posthumously on the basis of one or both the two incomplete versions left unpublished. Fenoglio died in

, when he was only 40, of bronchial cancer.

Works

* ''L'affare dell'anima e altri racconti '' * ''Appunti partigiani : '44-'45'' * ''Una crociera agli antipodi e altri racconti fantastici'' *'' Un giorno di fuoco'' * ''L'imboscata'' * ''Lettere : 1940-1962'' * ''La paga del sabato'' * ''La voce nella tempesta'' (theatre drama from ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...

'') *'' Il partigiano Johnny''. Translated as "Johnny the Partisan", 1995. * ''La malora'' Translated as "Ruin", 1995. * ''Primavera di bellezza : romanzo'' * '' Una questione privata''. Translated as "A Private Matter", 1988 and "A Private Affair", 2007. * ''I ventitré giorni della città di Alba''. Translated as "The Twenty-three Days of the City of Alba", 2002.

References

External links

Beppe Fenoglio
on

Enciclopedia Treccani The ''Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere e Arti'' (Italian for "Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Letters, and Arts"), best known as ''Treccani'' for its developer Giovanni Treccani or ''Enciclopedia Italiana'', is an Italian-language en ...

Beppe Fenoglio
on

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

* Italian resistance movement members 1922 births 1963 deaths People from Alba, Piedmont Writers from Turin Italian anti-fascists Deaths from lung cancer in Piedmont 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century Italian male writers Italian male novelists {{Italy-writer-stub, Fenoglio, Beppe