Giovanni Gaeta (1884 – 24 June 1961) was the real name of the

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, writer and musician better known as E. A. Mario. He took the ''E'' of his assumed name from the initial letter of the pseudonym Ermes under which he wrote for the newspaper ''Il Ventesimo''; the ''A'' came from Alessandro, the paper's chief editor; and ''Mario'' was the name of its Polish director. Gaeta composed and wrote the lyrics to more than 2,000 works in

and

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

. In 1918, he wrote ''

La leggenda del Piave "La Leggenda del Piave" ( en, The Legend of Piave), also known as "La Canzone del Piave" ( en, The Song of Piave), is an Italian patriotic song written by E. A. Mario after the Battle of the Piave River in June 1918. In September 1943 the future k ...

'', which at the

birth of the Italian Republic An institutional referendum ( it, referendum istituzionale, or ) was held in Italy on 2 June 1946,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1047 a key event of Italian contemporary history. Until 1946 ...

was a candidate for the

Italian national anthem "" (; "The Song of the Italians") is a canto written by Goffredo Mameli set to music by Michele Novaro in 1847, and is the current national anthem of Italy. It is best known among Italians as the "" (, "Mameli's Hymn"), after the author of the ...

. His other famous works include ''

Santa Lucia luntana "Santa Lucia Luntana" is a Neapolitan song written by E. A. Mario in 1919. (There is also a different Neapolitan song transcribed by Cottreau into Italian as "Santa Lucia"; "Santa Lucia Luntana" is sometimes referred to as "Santa Lucia", leadin ...

'', '' Balocchi e profumi'', ''Vipera'', ''Rose rosse'', and ''O' Paese dò sole''.

Biography

The future E. A. Mario was born to a family of modest means in the Vicaria quarter of Pellezzano,

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. His father, Michele Gaeta, was a barber and his mother, Maria della Monica, a housewife. The back of his father's barbershop served as the family's cramped living quarters, housing in addition to Gaeta, his mother and father, brother Ciccillo, and sisters Agata and Anna. Three aunts and an uncle occupied two further small rooms. He married Adelina, the daughter of the famous actress Leonilde Gaglianone, after a short three-month engagement. The couple were to have three daughters: Delia, Italia and Bruna. On 9 February 1916, he was initiated in the regular

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

''Unione e Lavoro'' in Naples. In Gaeta's youth he admired the performances of the great Neapolitan actor, poet and playwright

Eduardo Scarpetta Eduardo Scarpetta (13 March 1853 – 12 November 1925) was an Italian actor and playwright from Naples. Biography Although not from a theatrical family, he was on the stage by the age of four and is today best remembered as the creator of a c ...

. Gaeta collaborated greatly with the leading Neapolitan publisher, Ferdinand Bideri, who also produced the works of Gabriele d'Annunzio. Gaeta was destined never to become wealthy, forced by his wife's serious illness to sell the rights to all of his songs to a publishing house in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, from which he was to receive only a small percentage. He died in 1961 at the age of 77 on 24 June, the

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...

of his saint. His wife had died some months earlier.

References

External links

E. A. Mario recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. ;Note ''This work is derived in part from a translation of the corresponding articles in the

and French Wikipedias.'' Italian male poets 1884 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Italian poets 20th-century Italian musicians 20th-century Italian male writers {{authority control

Biography

See also

References

External links