Filippo De Nobili (

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...

, 23 September 1875 –

, 7 February 1962) was an Italian writer, poet, librarian, and historian. He was known for his opposition to fascism and the monarchy.

Biography

Member of the De Nobili family of

, he was the eldest son of Carlo De Nobili (1845–1908), baron of Magliacane, and of Concetta Pugliese. Filippo De Nobili was thus the great-grandson of the baron Carlo De Nobili (1777–1831), first mayor of

, knight of Malta and well-known economist. Filippo De Nobili studied law at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

, where he met and became the disciple of the Marxist philosopher

Antonio Labriola Antonio Labriola (; 2 July 1843 – 12 February 1904) was an Italian Marxist theoretician and philosopher. Although an academic philosopher and never an active member of any Marxist political party, his thought exerted influence on many pol ...

. De Nobili quickly became one of the three main leaders of the student movement in Rome, known as the '' goliardia romana'', and also founded a movement supporting the abolition of monarchy. However, in July 1896, he was expelled from the university for leading a student's agitation, following the replacement of the Minister of Education

Guido Baccelli Guido Baccelli (25 November 1830 – 10 January 1916) was an Italian physician and statesman. One of the most renowned Italian physicians of the late 19th Century, he was Minister of Education of the then young Kingdom of Italy for six times an ...

, a left-wing politician, by Emanuele Gianturco, a moderate catholic. The Marxist philosopher

tried to protect the students but a final verdict confirmed the expulsion of the three leaders, with the prohibition of attending any Italian university for two years. Two years later, in 1898, Filippo De Nobili was allowed to continue his studies in law at the

University of Messina The University of Messina ( it, Università degli Studi di Messina; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the wor ...

, in

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

. There he became a close friend of the decadent poet

Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the great ...

, before graduating and becoming a lawyer in

. From 1908 to 1958, De Nobili directed the Library Onestà e Lavoro of

, a public library founded in 1889 and today called ''Municipal Library «Filippo De Nobili»'' in his memory. In 1910, the Library Onestà e Lavoro also merged with the Popular Library of Catanzaro. De Nobili joined the Associazione Italiana Biblioteche at its foundation in 1930, and was one of the first inspectors for public libraries of the region. Filippo De Nobili was also a journalist, being the director of the newspaper ''U Spatrunatu'' and also the co-founder of the socialist journal ''Battaglia''. He wrote articles and satirical pieces in various other political newspapers and magazines, sometimes with the pen name of Fideno. Finally, De Nobili was an expert of Calabrian linguistic and etymology, helping the German linguist

Gerhard Rohlfs Gerhard Rohlfs (July 14, 1892 – September 12, 1986) was a German linguist. He taught Romance languages and literature at the universities of Tübingen and Munich. He was described as an "archeologist of words". Biography Rohlfs was born in B ...

to produce one of the first bilingual dictionaries in Calabrian-

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 ...

. In August 1942, under fascism, Filippo De Nobili and Francesco Maruca clandestinely founded the Communist Federation of the

Province of Catanzaro The province of Catanzaro ( it, provincia di Catanzaro; Catanzarese: ) is a province of the Calabria region of Italy. The city Catanzaro is both capital of the province and capital of the region of Calabria. The province contains a total of 8 ...

. Years later, the writer

Corrado Alvaro Corrado Alvaro (15 April 1895 – 11 June 1956) was an Italian journalist and writer of novels, short stories, screenplays and plays. He often used the '' verismo'' style to describe the hopeless poverty in his native Calabria. His first succe ...

wrote a poem titled ''Il topo e il falegname'' (The Mouse and the Carpenter) about the relationship between De Nobili and Maruca. De Nobili had met

when the latter was a high school student in Catanzaro. De Nobili is remembered for his rebel attitude towards the monarchy and fascism. In 1934, he refused a prestigious decoration from the Crown, instead replying: "I would be grateful if, instead of this honour that I do not want, you would offer some financial support to my Library." Later, he publicly mocked Benito Mussolini during a visit of the latter to

, mimicking the attitude of the dictator during his public appearances. Throughout his life, Filippo De Nobili was successively socialist, communist, and perhaps anarchist at the end of his life. Disciple of the Marxist philosopher

, he was also a close friend of the socialist Mario Casalinuovo and of the communist statesman

Fausto Gullo Fausto Gullo (16 June 1887 – 3 September 1974) was an Italian politician. Biography Gullo was born on 16 June 1887 in Catanzaro, where his father, an engineer, had moved for work reasons. He joined the Italian Socialist Party at a very young ...

. His thoughts and his political commitment influenced a whole generation of writers, politicians, and historians in Southern Italy.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading