Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo (2 March 1868 – 6 May 1937), known under the pen name ignis, was an Italian poet and playwright. He is best known for his play ''Rumon: Sacrae Romae Origines'', first performed in 1923.

Early life

Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo was born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

on 2 March 1868. His father died when he was young, after which his mother moved with him to Rome. He gained a medical degree in

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

and a second degree in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

. He soon chose to not pursue a career related to his degrees, but to devote his time to becoming a writer.

Literary career

His literary output can be understood in the context of the

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

tendencies during the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

and the fall of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. During this period, a part of the Italian intelligentsia entertained the idea of returning to paganism as a viable way forward. Musmeci adopted the pen name ''ignis'', which is Latin for "fire", because he regarded himself as a creative spark that would help to revive the Roman ''

mores Mores (, sometimes ; , plural form of singular , meaning "manner, custom, usage, or habit") are social norms that are widely observed within a particular society or culture. Mores determine what is considered morally acceptable or unacceptable ...

'' and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. He spelled the name with a lower case I to signify that he only was one of many such sparks. He participated in the intellectual milieu of the ''Caffé d'Aragno'', which included people such as

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...

Giuseppe Ungaretti Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experim ...

and

Ardengo Soffici Ardengo Soffici (7 April 1879 – 19 August 1964) was an Italian writer, painter, poet, sculptor and intellectual. Early life Soffici was born in Rignano sull'Arno, near Florence. In 1893 his family moved to the latter city, where he studi ...

. Musmeci's poetry collection ''Carme a Roma'', published in 1914, contains the theme of a Roman pagan renaissance as well as hostility toward the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Also in 1914, his play ''Quando le colonne rovinano'' premiered in Rome and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. His most significant work is ''Rumon: Sacrae Romae Origines'', a tragic play in five acts. It tells the mythological story of the

founding of Rome The tale of the founding of Rome is recounted in traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves as the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth. The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous o ...

, from the origin of

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the ...

, to Romulus' ascencion to the heavens. On 21 April 1914, Musmeci recited the play in his home to a small audience of invited bohemians and literary critics. It received positive newspaper reviews and there were discussions about staging the play outdoors on the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; la, Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; it, Palatino ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." ...

, but Italy's entry in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended those plans. When the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

came to power, Musmeci saw a new opportunity to get ''Rumon'' produced, thanks to the influence his friends Soffici and Giacomo Boni had on

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 ...

. After some compromises, the third act of ''Rumon'' was performed on the Palatine Hill on 6 May 1923, starring prominent actors of the day. The reception was positive and several critics compared the performance to a

rite Rite may refer to: * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition Religion * Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations * Catho ...

. The play was published in print in 1929, the same year as Mussolini signed the

Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle ...

, which ended the hopes of those who like Musmeci had wished to see a pagan re-emergence under fascism.

Later life

Musmeci left the literary scene and became increasingly embittered with fascism. He devoted his time to study sculpture and divine proportions. In 1931 he published the book ''Appunti su la scoperta della "divina proporzione"'', which summarises his studies of Pythagorean numerology. He died in poverty in 1937.

Selected works

* ''Carme a Roma'' (1914) * ''Quando le colonne rovinano'' (1914) * ''Rumon: Sacrae Romae Origines'' (1914; printed in 1929) * ''Appunti su la scoperta della "divina proporzione"'' (1931)

References

Notes

Sources

: : {{DEFAULTSORT:Musmeci, Roggero 1868 births 1937 deaths Italian male poets 20th-century Italian poets Italian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian modern pagans Modern pagan poets Writers from Palermo Italian fascists 20th-century Italian male writers