Giorgio Scerbanenco (; russian: Владимир Щербаненко, Vladimir Shcherbanenko; uk, Володимир Щербаненко, Volodymyr Shcherbanenko; 18 July 1911 – 27 October 1969) was a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

-born

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 ...

crime fiction 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, ...

writer.

Life and works

Giorgio Scerbanenco was born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, in what was then the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. At an early age, his family immigrated to

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 ...

(Scerbanenco's father was Ukrainian, his mother was Italian), and then he moved to

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 ...

when he was 18 years old. He found work as a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

for many Italian magazines, chief among them '' Annabella'' before becoming a novelist. His first fiction books were detective novels set in the United States and clearly inspired by the works of

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

and

S.S. Van Dine S. S. Van Dine (also styled S.S. Van Dine) is the pseudonym used by American art critic Willard Huntington Wright (October 15, 1888 – April 11, 1939) when he wrote detective novels. Wright was active in avant-garde cultural circles in pre-Worl ...

signed with an English-sounding pen name. While Scerbanenco wrote in several genres, he is famous in Italy for his crime and detective novels, many of which have been dramatized in Italian film and televisio

These include the series of novels with main character Duca Lamberti, a physician struck off the register for having performed a euthanasia, and turned

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

('' Venere privata'' - A Private Venus, 1966; ''Traditori di tutti'' - Betrayers of All, 1966; ''I ragazzi del massacro'' - The Boys of the Massacre, 1968; ''I milanesi ammazzano al sabato'' - The Milanese kill on Saturday, 1969), as well as ''Sei giorni di preavviso'' (Six Days of Notice), his first novel. He died of a heart attack in

on 27 October 1969. As well as in Milan, the writer lived for a long period in

Lignano Sabbiadoro Lignano Sabbiadoro (; fur, Lignan) is a town and comune within the province of Udine, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy. It is one of the main summer resorts in northern Italy and on the Adriatic Sea coast. History ...

, a town on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

. The town holds his archive.

Style

Scerbanenco was a frail, shy man, and his style was notable for the realistic way in which conveyed and evoked the helplessness and despair of weak people being cruelly victimized. His depiction of female characters is based on his years of experience answering the letters of women magazines' readers. His virulent and over-the-top

anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

stemmed from the trauma of losing his father during the Russian revolution, the trauma of exile and the meager life in Rome which followed it. This odd trait helped his popularity among Italian low and middle bourgeoisie, who felt reinforced in their social prejudices, but hampered his critical success in Italy; international critics (especially in France) did overlook this facet of his style and praised him when at home he was considered nothing more than a genre writer. His writing, in the best known books, is

ocentric, seldom if ever referencing other cities and regions of Italy, showing a degree of sympathy and appreciation for the Lombard city and its inhabitants which is rarely to be found in other writers. While denouncing the evils of the rampant consumeristic and greedy way of life taking hold from the 60s onward Scerbanenco always has a warm word for the peaceful, quiet, hard-working Milanese.

Honours

Asteroid 49441 Scerbanenco, discovered by astronomers at the

San Vittore Observatory The San Vittore Observatory ( it, Osservatorio San Vittore, obs. code: 552) is an astronomical observatory in Bologna, Italy. In the years from 1975 to 1981 the San Vittore Observatory (Bologna) Italy participated to the International Plan ...

in 1998, was named in his memory. The official naming citation was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on 31 March 2018 ().

Bibliography

Film and television adaptations

* '' Naked Violence'' (''I ragazzi del massacro''), directed by

Fernando Di Leo Fernando Di Leo (11 January 1932 – 2 December 2003) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, script writer. He made 17 films as a director and about 50 scripts from 1964 to 1985. Biography Fernando Di Leo was born on 11 January 1932 in ...

(1969) * '' Safety Catch'' (''Cran d'arrêt''), directed by

Yves Boisset Yves may refer to: * Yves, Charente-Maritime, a commune of the Charente-Maritime department in France * Yves (given name), including a list of people with the name * ''Yves'' (single album), a single album by Loona * ''Yves'' (film), a 2019 Fre ...

(1970) * '' La morte risale a ieri sera'', directed by

Duccio Tessari Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns. Born in Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian re ...

(1970) * ''

Caliber 9 ''Caliber 9'' ( it, Milano calibro 9, lit=Milan caliber 9; also released as ''The Contract'') is a 1972 Italian noir-poliziottesco film written and directed by Fernando Di Leo and starring Gastone Moschin, Mario Adorf, Barbara Bouchet, Philippe L ...

'' (''Milano calibro 9''), directed by Fernando Di Leo (1972) * ''

The Italian Connection ''The Italian Connection'' ( it, La mala ordina, lit=The mob orders, also released as ''Manhunt in the City'' and ''Manhunt in Milan'') is a 1972 italian '' noir''-'' thriller'' film co-written and directed by Fernando Di Leo; starring Mario Ado ...

'' (''La mala ordina''), directed by Fernando Di Leo (1972) * ''

The Killer Must Kill Again ''The Killer Must Kill Again'' (Italian: ''L'assassino è costretto ad uccidere ancora'') is a 1975 Italian giallo film directed by Luigi Cozzi. Cozzi originally wanted to call the film ''Il Ragno'' (''The Spider'') but it was changed to ''The Ki ...

'' (''L'assassino è costretto ad uccidere ancora''), directed by

Luigi Cozzi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

(1975) * ''

Young, Violent, Dangerous ''Young, Violent, Dangerous'' ( it, Liberi armati pericolosi), is a 1976 Italian "poliziottesco" film directed by Romolo Guerrieri. It is based on the short stories "Bravi ragazzi bang bang'' and ''In pineta si uccide meglio'', both included in Gio ...

'' (''Liberi armati pericolosi''), directed by

Romolo Guerrieri Romolo Guerrieri, aka ''Romolo Girolami'' (born 5 December 1931) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1961 and 1992. Selected filmography ;Director * '' Ten Thousand Dollars for a Massacre'' (1966) * '' ...

(1976) * '' Quattro delitti'' (TV film), directed by Alberto Siron, Gian Pietro Calasso and Vittorio Melloni (1979) * '' La ragazza dell'addio'' (TV film), directed by

Daniele D'Anza Daniele D'Anza (20 April 1922 – 12 April 1984) was an Italian director, playwright and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, D'Anza started his career on stage, in which he is best known for the direction of the antimilitarist play '' ...

(1984) * '' Appuntamento a Trieste'' (TV miniseries), directed by

Bruno Mattei Bruno Mattei (30 July 1931 – 21 May 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor who directed exploitation films in many genres, including women in prison, nunsploitation, zombie, mondo, cannibal, and Nazisploitation films. Ma ...

(1989) * '' L'uomo che non voleva morire'' (TV film), directed by

Lamberto Bava Lamberto Bava (born 3 April 1944) is an Italian film director. Born in Rome, Bava began working as an assistant director for his director father Mario Bava. Lamberto co-directed the 1979 television film ''La Venere d'Ille'' with his father and in ...

(1989) * ''

¡Dispara! ''¡Dispara! '' (also known as ''Outrage!'') is a 1993 Spanish drama film directed by Carlos Saura, starring Francesca Neri and Antonio Banderas. The story is a revenge tragedy. Plot Marcos, a young reporter, goes to a circus to write a Sunday ...

'', directed by

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career th ...

(1993) * '' Occhio di falco'' - serie TV serial, directed by Vittorio De Sisti (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scerbanenco, Giorgio 1911 births 1969 deaths Writers from Kyiv Italian crime fiction writers Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century Italian male writers Italian male novelists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Italy Ukrainian people of Italian descent People from the Russian Empire of Italian descent