Carlo Bo (25 January 1911 – 21 July 2001) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

poet, literary critic, distinghuished humanist, a professor and Life senator of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(from 1984).

Biography

Bo was born on January 25, 1911, in

Sestri Levante Sestri Levante ( la, Segesta Tigullorum/Segesta Tigulliorum) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Liguria, Italy. Lying on the Mediterranean Sea, it is approximately south of Genoa and is set on a promontory. While nearby ...

. From 1929 to 1934 he attended the humanities school at the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

, moving from the study of classical literature to modern literature, discipline in which het took his

Laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremony ...

in 1934. Bo wrote his first book in 1935, a

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

on Jacques Riviere. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in the year 1936, he published an

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

on the literary

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

'' Il Frontespizio'' which gathered together the most relevant poets like

Mario Luzi Mario Luzi (20 October 1914 – 28 February 2005) was an Italian poet. Biography Born in Castello, near Sesto Fiorentino, Luzi's parents, Ciro Luzi and Margherita Papini, hailed from Samprugnano (later Semproniano). He spent his youth in Castel ...

, and contemporary artists from

Ottone Rosai Ottone Rosai (28 April 1895 – 13 May 1957) was an Italian painter born in Florence. Biography Rosai graduated from the Florence Academy of Fine Arts in 1912, a period in which he was closely associated with the Lacerba group of Florentine Futur ...

Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, b ...

and Quinto Martini. His essay was titled "Letteratura come vita (Literature as a way of life)", containing the theoretical-methodological fundamentals of hermetic poetry. In 1939 he began teaching

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...

at the

University of Urbino The University of Urbino "Carlo Bo" ( it, Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo", ''UniUrb'') is an Italian university located in Urbino, a walled hill-town in the region of Marche, located in the north-eastern part of central Italy. The ...

. Bo was the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of University of Urbino from 1947 until his death, for more than 50 years. Bo was appointed a

Senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , six Italian senators out of 206, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

on July 18, 1984, and has been a member of several parties. He served with the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

, from 1987 to 1994; the Italian People's Party, from 1994 to 2001; and

The Daisy ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, from 2001 until his death. Bo died in Genoa on July 21, 2001.

Legacy

His focus on hermetic poetry was to become a strong poetical movement comprising important poets, such as

Salvatore Quasimodo Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...

and

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and works Early years Montale was born in Genoa. His family were che ...

, both of whom would go on to receive the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

(1959, 1975). Carlo Bo himself, however, never did and, at the age of 86, was rendered incapable of understanding

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. I ...

's 1997 receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature, saying "I must be too old to understand. What does this mean? That everything changes, even literature has changed." Bo is credited with writing roughly 40 books and would also found the national Gentile da Fabriano prize.

External links

Italian Senate Page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bo, Carlo 1911 births 2001 deaths Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Italian People's Party (1994) politicians Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy politicians Italian life senators People from the Province of Genoa Senators of Legislature IX of Italy Senators of Legislature X of Italy Senators of Legislature XI of Italy Senators of Legislature XII of Italy Senators of Legislature XIII of Italy Senators of Legislature XIV of Italy Writers from Liguria University of Urbino faculty Politicians of Liguria