Nicola Chiaromonte (1905 in

Rapolla Rapolla is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Lavello, Melfi, Rionero in Vulture, Venosa. The ancient sarcophagus of Rapolla takes its name from i ...

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

– 18 June 1972 in Rome) was an Italian activist and writer. In 1934 he fled Italy for France, after opposing

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

government. In Paris he contributed to ''

Giustizia e Libertà Giustizia e Libertà (; en, Justice and Freedom) was an Italian anti-fascist resistance movement, active from 1929 to 1945.James D. Wilkinson (1981). ''The Intellectual Resistance Movement in Europe''. Harvard University Press. p. 224. The mov ...

''. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, he flew in

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

's squadron, fighting against fascist supported General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

. The character of Scali in Malraux's novel ''Man's Hope'' is based on Chiaromonte. After moving to New York in 1941, he took on an important role in the leftist anti-

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

intellectual scene of the period, writing for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'', ''

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

'' and ''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated John ...

''. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, he helped found, and served as editor, for the Italian journal '' Tempo Presente'', which was published by the Congress for Cultural Freedom (an organization with silent backing of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

). Mary McCarthy was a close friend during his time in the US. A foreword to the 1985 edition of Chiaromonte's book of essays ''The Paradox of History'' (1970) was written by Joseph Frank, a noted

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

scholar.

Works

In Italian *''La situazione drammatica'' (1960) *''Credere e non credere'' (1971) *''Scritti politici e civili'' (1976) *''Scritti sul teatro'' (1976) *''Silenzio e parole'' (1978) *''Il tarlo della conscienza'' (1992, introduction by

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (; May 20, 1919 − July 4, 2000) was a Polish writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter, and political dissident abroad during the communist system in Poland. He is best known for writing a personal ...

) *''Che cosa rimane. Taccuini 1955-1971'' (1995, introduction by

Wojciech Karpiński Wojciech Karpiński (11 May 1943 – 18 August 2020) was a Polish writer, historian of ideas and literary critic. Life Wojciech Karpiński was born on 11 May 1943 in Warsaw, the son of the architect Zbigniew Karpiński and a grandson of ...

) *''Fra me e te la verità, lettere a Muska'' (2013, afterword by

)(a collection of his letters to Melanie von Nagel, a Benedictine nun) In English translation *''The Worm of Consciousness and Other Essays'' (1977) *''The Paradox of History: Stendhal, Tolstoy, Pasternak, and Others'' (1970)

References

External links

Photographs of Nicola Chiaromonte

* * * * Nicola Chiaromonte Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiaromonte, Nicola 1905 births 1972 deaths People from the Province of Potenza Action Party (Italy) politicians Italian activists Members of Giustizia e Libertà 20th-century Italian philosophers 20th-century Italian male writers Italian magazine editors People associated with the magazine "Kultura"

Works

References

Further reading

External links