Eurialo De Michelis (23 October 1904 – 17 December 1990) was an Italian writer, poet and literary critic born in

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 ...

Mezzogiorno Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion A macroregion is a geopolitical subdivision that encompasses several traditionally or politically defined regions or countries. The meaning ...

Biography

De Michelis was born in

, although his family was a northern one, originating in

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

and

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. While he was still young they moved back to the north, settling in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

in the Veneto, where his father, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, had been invited to take on his own parish. De Michelis launched his literary career with a volume of poetry published in 1927 and entitled ''Aver vent'anni'' (loosely, "Aged twenty") which was followed by his first narrative work, ''Adamo'' (1930), three years later. This marked him out as a proponent of the new neorealist literary movement. He moved from Vicenza to Rome in 1932. After producing two collections of short stories - ''Bugie'' (1931) and ''Distacco'' (1934) - he devoted himself principally to non-fiction, producing studies of Grazia Deledda,

Federigo Tozzi Federigo Tozzi (born 1 January 1883 in Siena; died 21 March 1920 in Rome) was an Italian writer. Biography He was the son of an innkeeper. He initially worked as a railway official, but took over running the family inn after his father's death. ...

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 ...

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

, Alberto Moravia, Alessandro Manzoni, Gabriele D'Annunzio and

Giuseppe Gioachino Belli Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Belli (7 September 1791 – 21 December 1863) was an Italian poet, famous for his sonnets in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome. Biography Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Belli ...

. Later he returned to another focus which was on poetry, with significant collections published in 1962 and in 1965 (''Poesie a ritroso'' and ''Viaggio in carrozza''). In 1933 he teamed up with Mario Pannunzio and Antonio Delfini to create what became the liberal-leaning ''Oggi'' magazine, described originally as "a weekly journal of literature and the arts" (''Settimanale di lettere ed arti'').

Memberships and awards (selection)

De Michelis was a member of the

Accademia degli Arcadi The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History F ...

. He received various awards, including the Fracchia Prize for narrative organised by the La Fiera Letteraria. He received the Manzoni Prize and the D'Annunzio Prize; and the Roncaglia Prize from the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

in respect of his entire non-fiction output.

Legacy

Eurialo De Michelis built up a significant library which was sold to the Biblioteca Classense in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

after he died. De Michelis maintained contact with many leading figures of twentieth century Italian literature: the collection offers important insights and comprises many volumes covering fiction, non-fiction and poetry. His personal papers are deposited at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

Manuscripts Centre, and in the Venetian Manuscripts Archive at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Michelis, Euralio People from Salerno People from Vicenza 20th-century Italian non-fiction writers Italian literary critics 20th-century Italian poets Members of the Academy of Arcadians 1904 births 1990 deaths