Santi Paladino
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Santi Paladino (1902 – 1981) was an Italian journalist, politician and writer, who is best known for his theory that
Michelangelo Florio Michelangelo Florio (1515–1566), born in Florence and died in Soglio, Switzerland, Soglio, was the son of a Francis of Assisi, Franciscan friar, before converting to Protestantism. He was a pastor in both England and Switzerland, and father of t ...
was the real author of the works of Shakespeare, a view he propounded in several publications from 1927 on. He was also the founder of the
Italian Unionist Movement The Italian Unionist Movement (''Movimento Unionista Italiano'') was a shortlived Italian political party that advocated for Italy to become part of the United States. The party was founded on 12 October (Columbus Day) 1944 by sociologist , Ca ...
, a short-lived anti-Communist political party that existed from 1944 to 1948. It advocated a federal union between Italy and the United States.


Journalism and other writings

Originally from
Scilla, Calabria Scilla ( scn, label= Calabrian, U Scigghiu; ) is a town and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy, administratively part of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. It is the traditional site of the sea monster Scylla of Greek mythology. Description ...
, in 1926 Paladino founded ''Sirena'', a literary journal and magazine concentrating on Sicilian and Calabrian culture. He also wrote on miscellaneous topics, including a manual entitled ''How to write and co-write a film script: Theoretical and practical guide'' (1943).


Shakespeare authorship

Paladino first suggested that Michelangelo Florio was the author of Shakespeare's works in 1927. His views were first put forward in the fascist literary journal ''L'Impero'' in February of that year. His arguments were presented in full in the booklet ''Shakespeare sarebbe lo pseudonimo di un poeta italiano'' (1929). In the same year he founded the ''Accademia Shakespeariana'' to promote his views. However, it was dissolved in the following year by the local authorities. Its aims were declared contrary to public policy by the fascist government. Paladino's documents were confiscated and the sale of his book banned. Paladino's theory is linked to the argument put forward by other "anti-Stratfordians" that Shakespeare's work shows an intimate knowledge of Italian culture and geography. He argued that Florio was a Sicilian Calvinist who had been forced to move to England to avoid persecution by the Catholic church. He invented the name Shakespeare by translating his mother's maiden name, Crollalanza, into English. Hermann W. Haller describes the 1929 booklet as "a pamphlet rife with fantasy and historical distortions". Frances Yates called it an "astonishing work", containing claims that Florio had travelled to Spain, Austria, Athens, France and Denmark, but providing "no authority" for these assertions. According to Yates, Paladino's argument was somewhat weakened by the fact that he confused Michelangelo with his son
John Florio Giovanni Florio (1552–1625), known as John Florio, was an English linguist, poet, writer, translator, lexicographer, and royal language tutor at the Court of James I. He is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England. F ...
. Much of Paladino's argument rests on the similarity of verses in the book ''Second Fruits'' to lines from ''Hamlet''. In fact the book is by John, not Michelangelo. After World War II, Paladino's ideas were revived by Carlo Villa in a novel published in 1951. Villa supplemented the novel with an essay arguing for Florio's authorship. In Villa's version Florio becomes Shakespeare quite literally, after he is adopted by
John Shakespeare John Shakespeare (c. 1531 – 7 September 1601) was an English businessman in Stratford-upon-Avon and the father of William Shakespeare. He was a glover and whittawer ( leather worker) by trade. Shakespeare was elected to several municipal ...
. "Friderico Georgi" (Franz Saalbach) also published a book promoting the hypothesis. After this, Paladino revived his ideas, adapting his theory to address his original confusion between the Florios. In ''Un italiano autore delle opere shakespeariane'' (1955) he argued that Michelangelo and John Florio had worked together on the plays, Michelangelo writing the original version in Italian and John perfecting the English-language translation. The duo then entered into a "secret agreement" with the actor William Shakespeare to give him "temporary or permanent" credit for the published works. Variations on Paladino's views have been developed by other, mostly Italian, writers, including Martino Iuvara (2002),
Lamberto Tassinari Lamberto Tassinari (born 1945) is a writer and editor best known for his book ''John Florio: The Man Who Was Shakespeare''. He is one of the founders of the transcultural magazine ViceVersa (not to be confused with a 1948 magazine of the same nam ...
(2008) and Roberta Romani (2012).


Politics

On October 12, 1944, while Allied armies occupied Italy, Paladino joined with the former fascist sociologist Corrado Gini and statistician Ugo Damiani to found the anti-Communist
Italian Unionist Movement The Italian Unionist Movement (''Movimento Unionista Italiano'') was a shortlived Italian political party that advocated for Italy to become part of the United States. The party was founded on 12 October (Columbus Day) 1944 by sociologist , Ca ...
. The party argued that the
Government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
should absorb all free and democratic nations worldwide, thereby transforming itself into a
world government World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. A world gove ...
based in
Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
. Italy would initiate the process by joining the U.S.A. as its 49th state. This would eventually expand to produce a world government. The party was set up in the context of the
Sicilian Independence Movement The Movement for the Independence of Sicily ( it, Movimento per l'Indipendenza della Sicilia, scn, Muvimentu pâ Nnipinnenza dâ Sicilia, MIS) was a separatist Sicilian political party originally active in Sicily from 1943 to 1951. Its best e ...
of the time. Its programme was in opposition to the "Party of Reconstruction", which claimed 40,000 members in 1944, and campaigned for Sicily to be admitted as a U.S. state. Paladino wanted Italy to remain internally unified in a federal union with America. Paladino stated, "With a federation of the United States, Italy and some other nations, and a lot of atomic bombs, there would be no wars. This would solve all of Italy's problems." Paladino argued that closer union with America was necessary to counter the advance of Communism under Soviet Russian leadership."Italy: The 49th State", ''Time'', Monday, Apr. 15, 1946. Paladino became a leading Italian advocate of federal world government, attending the Montreux Congress of the World Movement in 1947. However, the movement was unsuccessful in Italy. After several electoral failures the party disbanded in 1948.


Science fiction and later work

In the 1950s he wrote science fiction, notably a series of short stories he published in 1957, using the pseudonym "Delta Billy". His sci-fi story ''Oltre l'Apocalisse'' (Beyond the Apocalypse) was published in the series ''Narratori dell'Alpha-tau. Archivi del futuro'' (Irsa Muraro Publishing).Scheda sul romanzo "Oltre l'Apocalisse" in The Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
/ref> He also wrote ''L'avventura di Mary'' (Mary's Adventure) in 1958 and ''L'invasione della Terra'' (Invasion of Earth) in 1960. Paladino continued to publish until shortly before his death. His last work was ''Perché credo in Dio'' (Why I Believe in God), published in 1980.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paladino, Santi 1902 births 1981 deaths People from Scilla, Calabria 20th-century male writers Shakespeare authorship theorists World federalist activists Italian science fiction writers 20th-century Italian poets Italian male dramatists and playwrights