Donna Leon (; born in
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. ...
) is the American author of a series of
crime novel
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
s set in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Italy, featuring the fictional hero
Commissario Guido Brunetti. In 2003, she received the
Corine Literature Prize
The Corine – International Book Prize, as it is officially called, is a German literature prize created by the
Bavarian chapter of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, first awarded in 2001. It is awarded to German and international "au ...
.
Leon lived in Venice for over 30 years and now resides in the small village of
Val Müstair
Val Müstair (german: Münstertal) is a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It was formed on 1 January 2009 through the merger of Tschierv, Fuldera, Lü, Valchava, Santa Maria Val Müs ...
in the mountains of
Grisons
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Surmiran, (Ca ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. She also has a home in Zurich. In 2020 she became a Swiss citizen. She was a lecturer in English literature for the
University of Maryland University CollegeEurope (UMUC-Europe) in Italy and taught English from 1981 to 1990 at an American military base in Italy. She has stopped teaching and concentrated on writing and other cultural activities in the field of music (especially
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
music).
Her Commissario Brunetti novels all take place in or around Venice. They are written in English and have been translated into many foreign languages, butat Leon's requestnot into Italian. The ninth Brunetti novel, ''Friends in High Places'', won the
Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2000. German television has produced 26 ''
Commissario Brunetti'' episodes for broadcast.
Early life
Donna Leon was born to Catholic parents, who had strong leanings to the Democratic party. Her paternal grandparents were Spanish and her maternal grandparents were Irish and German. She grew up in
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District.
History
The initial patent for the land that w ...
.
Her parents put a strong focus on education for their daughter.
''The Guardian'' reports: "Leon was teaching in Iran while attempting to complete a PhD about Jane Austen when the revolution of 1978-79 interrupted her studies and her life. When her trunks were returned to her months later, following her hasty evacuation (part of it at gunpoint, on a bus), her papers were gone." She returned to the US and worked in New York City writing advertising copy. When she visited Italy for the first time, she fell in love with the country.
In 2015, she left Venice as her full-time home and began to split her time between the homes she owns in Switzerland, one in Zurich and another in the mountains. She returns to Venice approximately one week each month.
Career
Leon wrote a crime novel after seeing a scene she thought belonged in such a novel. She wrote it in 8 months and stuck it in a drawer until a friend persuaded her to submit to a writing contest, which she won.
Setting and viewpoints of the Brunetti novels
The
police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice. Each case is an opportunity for the author to reveal another aspect of the seamy underside of society and another facet of Venetian life. Brunetti reports to the vain and self-serving buffoon, Vice-Questore Patta, while Sergente (later Ispettore and with the inspector per ''tu'') Vianello and the all-knowing and well-connected Signorina Elettra, Patta's secretary, assists Brunetti on the ground and through research.
These novels are successful in Germany and translated into many languages, except Italian.
Bibliography
Commissario Guido Brunetti novels
Other novels
* ''
The Jewels of Paradise'' (2012)
Non-fiction
Books
*
*
Books with musical recordings
* Book and audio recording. WorldCat summary: "A literary, visual, and musical exploration of twelve of Handel's arias referencing animals. Complemented by a CD recording, conducted by Alan Curtis with Karina Gauvin (Soprano), Ann Hallenberg (Mezzo-soprano), Paul Agnew, and Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (Tenor)."
* Book and audio recording. Worldcat summary: "Novelist Donna Leon recounts some legendary tales of Venice, offering insight into Venetian customs of the past and present. Includes music CD of seven concertos by
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread ...
performed by
Il Complesso Barocco and conducted by
Riccardo Minasi
Riccardo Minasi (born 1978) is an Italian violinist and conductor in the field of historically informed performance.
Life
Born in Rome, Minasi received his first music lessons from his mother, studying modern violin with Paolo Centurioni and Al ...
."
* Book and audio recording. Worldcat summary: "Accompanied by a CD of Italian boat songs, this fascinating history of the
gondola
The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, ...
, which was first used in medieval Venice as a maneuverable getaway boat, reveals how it evolved over the centuries into a floating pleasure palace that facilitated the romantic escapades of the Venetian elite." Notes: "With a CD of Venetian
barcarole performed by Il Pomo d'Oro, conducted by Riccardo Minasi, featuring Vincenzo Capezzuto and
Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli, Cavaliere OMRI (; born 4 June 1966) is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best known for her interpretations of the music of Bellini, Handel, Mozart, Rossini and Vivaldi, as well as for her ...
."
Spin-offs
Leon's Commissario Brunetti novels have spawned multiple spin-off enterprises, including:
* A travel guidebook:
*Walking Tours of Guido Brunetti's Venice with accompanying maps: Dr. Toni Sepeda,"the only lecturer authorized by Donna Leon to conduct events in Brunetti's Venicea", leads individual and group tours of the locations and routes noted in Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti novels.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
* Interview with Donna Leon and links to more Donna Leon interviews.
Il Complesso Barocco official website of conductor/harpsichordist/founder Alan Curtis' Baroque-music orchestra underwritten by Donna Leon.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Donna
Living people
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American crime fiction writers
University of Maryland Global Campus faculty
People from Montclair, New Jersey
American expatriates in Italy
American women novelists
Women mystery writers
Novelists from New Jersey
Novelists from Maryland
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
Year of birth missing (living people)