Franco Cuomo

Franco Cuomo (22 April 1938, in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

– 23 July 2007, in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) 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 ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and writer. Best known for his

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

s set in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, he was short-listed twice for the Strega Award (the most prestigious

literary prize A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ...

in Italy), first with ''Gunther d'Amalfi, cavaliere templare'' (Gunter D'Amalfi,

Knight Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

) in 1990 and then ''Il Codice Macbeth'' in 1997. Cuomo gained a degree in law and then simultaneously worked in journalism and the theatre, moving on to

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

and historical studies. His most recent works included the

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s ''I sotterranei del cielo'', ''Il tatuaggio'', and ''Anime perdute''. ''Notturno veneziano con messa nera e fantasmi d'amore'' and the

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

''I dieci'' examined the Italian

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

s who signed the "Racial Manifesto" in 1938 leading to the introduction of

racial A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

laws. Among his other works of fiction are ''I semidei'', a spy story set in contemporary Italy with clear references to many of the major figures involved in

Tangentopoli ''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italian ...

inspired by his work as journalist, ''Il signore degli specchi'' on the life of

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection o ...

, and ''Scroll'' on the legend that

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

may not have been English. He is also the author a five-volume series on the origins of Europe, ''Il romanzo di Carlo Magno'', and a biography of Rita da Cascia, ''Santa Rita degli impossibili''. The latter, rejecting a sort of

hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

stance, instead reconstructs the mystery in which the medieval mystic was involved surrounding the murder of her husband. His works of nonfiction include works on idleness (''L'ozio''), seduction (''Elogio del libertino''),

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

Victorian decadence (''Chi ha guardato negli occhi la bellezza''), the tragedy of

Beatrice Cenci Beatrice Cenci (; 6 February 157711 September 1599) was a Roman noblewoman who murdered her father, Count Francesco Cenci. She was beheaded in 1599 after a lurid murder trial in Rome that gave rise to an enduring legend about her. Life Beatri ...

and historical themes concerning the formation and influence of the collective imagination, such as ''Le grandi profezie'' (on prophecies from the dawn of human civilization to the modern age) and on

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

hood (''Gli ordini cavallereschi nel mito e nella storia''). He was the author of a vast theatrical body of works, staged in Italy and abroad by such directors as Carmelo Bene, Maurizio Scaparro, Sergio Fantoni, and Françoise Petite. They include ''Faust o Margherita'' (with Carmelo Bene), ''Romeo e Giulietta'' (with Carmelo Bene and Roberto Lerici), ''Compagno Gramsci'', ''Il caso Matteotti'', ''Caterina delle misericordie'' (Premio Riccione), ''Nerone'' (Premio Idi), ''Giovanna d'Arco e Gilles de Rais'' (Premio Vallecorsi), ''Addio amore'' (Beatrice Cenci) (Premio Fondi), ''Una notte di Casanova'' (Premio Flaiano) and the recent ''Gladiator''. Among his awards were the Fregene Prize for journalism (1984), the Premio per la Cultura della Presidenza del Consiglio (1989), the Ravello (1990), the Vanvitelli (1995), and the Blow In (1997). He translated ''Utopia'' by

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

and numerous classics for stage productions including ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'' and

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

' ''Caligula'', directed by Maurizio Scaparro, as well as works by

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

and

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

. He worked with

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

and directed or advised on a wide variety of radio and television programmes on cultural topics (''L'occhio sul teatro and Magico e nero for Videosapere'') as well as ones appealing to a more general audience (''Cararai'', ''Cronache del cinema e del teatro'', ''Obbiettivo Europa'' and ''Cineteatro''). Over his life he was on the editorial staff of a number of newspapers and periodicals as special correspondent, critic and editor-in-chief of culture sections, as well as co-edito of magazines (''Fiera'' and ''Achab'') and author of monographs for specialized magazines (''Medioevo'' and ''Ulisse 2000''). He frequently appeared as a guest on television programmes on RAI, Mediaset and other broadcasters, taking part in programmes including ''Stargate'', ''Voyageur'', ''Unomattina'', ''Maurizio Costanzo'', ''Top Secret'' and ''SpecialestoriaTG1''. The last essay he published for the daily newspaper ''

l'Unità ''l'Unità'' (, lit. 'the Unity') was an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of the ...

'' readers in 2005 was "''I DIECI: chi erano gli scienziati italiani che firmarono il manifesto della razza''" ("The Ten: who were the Italian scientists that signed the race manifesto"). {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuomo, Franco 1938 births 2007 deaths Italian male writers Writers from Rome Writers from Naples Journalists from Naples