Iginio (or Igino) Ugo Tarchetti (; 29 June 1839 – 25 March 1869) was an Italian author, poet, and journalist.

Life

Born in San Salvatore Monferrato, his military career was cut short by ill health, and in 1865 he settled in Milan. Here he entered literary study, becoming part of the Scapigliatura, a literary movement animated by a spirit of rebellion against traditional culture. He worked on several newspapers and published a torrent of short stories, novels, and poems. He contracted tuberculosis and died in poverty at the age of 29. Tarchetti published his plagiarized translation of "

The Mortal Immortal "The Mortal Immortal" is a short story from 1833 written by Mary Shelley. It tells the story of a man named Winzy, who drinks an elixir which makes him immortal. At first, immortality appears to promise him eternal tranquility. However, it soon be ...

" (1833) by Mary Shelley as "The Elixir of Immortality", with small but significant changes but without attribution. He also appropriated foreign texts in the Gothic tradition, such as works by

E. T. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in E ...

, Edgar Allan Poe and Theophile Gautier. Lawrence Venuti, who discovered the antecedents of "Mortal Immortal" while translating Tarchetti's ''Fantastic Tales'', considers his appropriation as serving the social agenda of Scapigliatura. ''Fantastic Tales'' was the first ever translation of Tarchetti into English.

Works

*''Opere'', Cappelli, Bologna, 1967. *''Paolina'', Mursia, Milano, 1994. *''L'Amore Nell'Arte'', Passigli, Firenze, 1992. *''Racconti Fantastici + Racconti Vari'', Bompiani, Milano, 1993. Translated by Lawrence Venuti as ''Fantastic Tales'', Mercury House, San Francisco, 1992, , winner of Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection. *''Una Nobile Follia'', Mondadori, Milano, 2004. *'' Fosca'', Mondadori, Milano, 1981. Translated by Lawrence Venuti as '' Passion: A Novel'' (Mercury House, 1994). at Amazon.com

Adaptations

''Fosca'', written in 1869, was the basis for

Ettore Scola Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film ''A Special Day'' and over the course of his film career was nominated for fiv ...

's 1981 film, '' Passione d'amore'', which in turn served as the basis for James Lapine and

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

's 1994 musical '' Passion''.

References

* Pireddu, Nicoletta. “Poe spoetizzato: l’esotismo tarchettiano,” in _Fantastico Poe_, ed. by R. Cagliero (Ombre Corte, 2004): 157-176.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarchetti, Iginio People from the Province of Alessandria 1839 births 1869 deaths Italian poets Italian male poets Italian journalists Italian male journalists Scapigliatura Movement 19th-century journalists 19th-century Italian poets 19th-century Italian male writers