Giorgio Bassani a writer between Italy and America

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1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Italian Cultural Institute of New York presents Giorgio Bassani a writer between Italy and America Wednesday May, 16, pm Location Italian Cultural Institute of New York, 686 Park Avenue, NYC

2 New York, May 14, The Italian Cultural Institute will host a seminar on Giorgio Bassani and his relationship with America, followed by the screening of Un autore, una citta (An Author, a Town), a documentary by Rai Teche, On this occasion will be also presented the new anthology Post - scriptum to Giorgio Bassani, Essays on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Bassani's death, curated by Roberta Antognini e Rodica Blumenfeld. About the author Bassani was born in Bologna into a prosperous Jewish family of Ferrara, where he spent his childhood with his mother Dora, father Enrico (a doctor), brother Paolo, and sister Jenny. In 1934 he completed his studies at his secondary school, the lycee L. Ariosto in Ferrara. Music had been his first great passion and he considered a career as a pianist; however literature soon became the focus of his artistic interests. In 1935 he enrolled in the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bologna. Commuting to lectures by train (third class) from Ferrara, he studied under the art historian Roberto Longhi. His ideal of the "free intellectual" was the Liberal historian and philosopher Benedetto Croce. Despite the anti-semitic race laws which were introduced from 1938, he was able to graduate in 1939, writing a thesis on the nineteenth-century writer, journalist, radical and lexicographer Niccolò Tommaseo. As a Jew in 1939, however, work opportunities were now limited and he became a schoolteacher in the Jewish School of Ferrara in via Vignatagliata. In 1940 his first book, Una città di pianura (A City of the Plain), was published under the pseudonym Giacomo Marchi in order to evade the race laws. During this period, along with friends he had made in Ferrara's intellectual circle, he became a clandestine political activist. His activity in the anti-fascist resistance led to his arrest in May 1943; he was released on 26 July, the day after Benito Mussolini was ousted from power. A little over a week later he married Valeria Sinigallia, they moved to Florence for a brief period, living under assumed names, then at the end of the year, to Rome, where he would spend the rest of his life. His first volume of poems, Storie dei poveri amanti e altri versi, appeared in 1944; a second, Te lucis ante, followed in He edited the literary review Botteghe oscure for Princess Marguerite Caetani from its founding in 1948 until it halted publication in In 1953 Passeggiata prima di cena appeared and in 1954 Gli ultimi anni di Clelia Trotti. In the same year he became editor of Paragone. Bassani's writings reached a wider audience in 1956 with the publication of the Premio Strega-winning book of short stories, Cinque storie Ferraresi. As an editorial director of Feltrinelli, Bassani was responsible for the posthumous publication in 1958 of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's Il Gattopardo, a novel which became one of the great successes of post-war Italian literature.

3 Also in 1958 Bassani's novel Gli occhiali d'oro was published, an examination, in part, of the marginalisation of Jews and homosexuals. Together with stories from Cinque storie ferraresi (reworked and under the new title Dentro le mura (1973)) it was to be form part of a series of works known collectively as Il romanzo di Ferrara which explored the town, with its Christian and Jewish elements, its perspectives and its landscapes. The series also includes: Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1962, Premio Viareggio prizewinner); Dietro la porta (1964); L'airone (1968) and L'odore del fieno (1972). These works realistically document the Italian Jewish community under Fascism in a style that manifests the difficulties of searching for truth in the meanderings of memory and moral conscience. In 1960 one of his novels was adapted as the film Long Night in Affected by the anti-jewish persecutions of the Fascist regime, Giorgio Bassani expressed in his works his quest for achieving stylistic perfection while demonstrating his moral, intellectual and political sensitivity. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, the most famous novel of Bassani, explores these themes and offers a truthful picture of bourgeoisie life in Ferrara. Bassani also spent much time traveling abroad. The United States was one of his favorite destinations. During his many journeys throughout the US, he visited Northwestern University, Indiana University, Berkeley, New York: in the US, he not only promoted the translation of his books, but also lectured on Italian contemporary literature. In 1980, he was awarded an honorary degree in literature by Saint Mary's College. Bassani died in 2000 and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Ferrara. Bassani was the recipient of the Veillon, the Strega, the Campiello, the Viareggio and the Nelly Sachs prizes. He collaborated on several screen plays. About the book Post - scriptum to Giorgio Bassani, Essays on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Bassani's death represents an homage to Giorgio Bassani from an original perspective. Post - scriptum is meant to celebrate above all the bond of the great Ferrarese writer with the United States, affirmed by his visits to American universities in the 70's. Under the aegis of the Fondazione Bassani, this volume places in juxtaposition the best Italian criticism with that from across the Atlantic, and, in so doing, recognizes the recent important contributions of 'American' criticism to Bassani studies. The anthology gathers together 27 pieces in Italian and English on the diverse aspects of Bassani's intellectual commitments - as narrator, poet, art critic, environmentalist, screenwriter. It opens with an interview with the writer's daughter, Paola Bassani, and with memoirs by Dacia Maraini and Alan Elkann, personal reflections on the living Bassani. Also of American origin are the materials of the closing appendix, published here for the first time: an interview given by Bassani at the Italian Cultural Insitute of New York in 1966, original letters from Indiana University and from Rome in 1976, several photographs, and the first English translation of the story Il concerto from the

4 early collection Una città di pianura, which appeared under the pseudonym Giacomo Marchi. Speakers Roberta Antognini has a degree in History of Italian Language from the Università Cattolica di Milano (Italy). She joined the faculty after receiving her PhD in Italian from New York University in Prior to her arrival at Vassar, she was an adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Fordham University. Her main research and teaching interests lie in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Literature, History of Italian Language, Autobiography and Translation. She is the author of a monograph on Petrarch's collection of letters, the Familiares: Il progetto autobiografico delle Familiares di Petrarca (Milano: LED, 2008). She is currently co-editing an anthology of essays on Giorgio Bassani. Paola Bassani Pacht, daughter of celebrated writer Giorgio Bassani. Is the founder, with his brother Henry, of Giorgio Bassani Foundation. She is president of the Association des Historiens de l'art Italien in Paris, where she is currently living, and director of the 'Bulletin' Association. He taught history of modern art at the University of Tours and Rennes. she is a specialist of French and Italian "Seicento", and the author of several publications and organizer of exhibitions relating to the French '600. Cristina Della Coletta is Professor of Italian. She holds a degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures (French and North American) from the Università di Venezia, Italy, an M.A. in Italian from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Italian from the University of California, at Los Angeles. Her interests include contemporary Italian literature, particularly historical fiction, comparative literatures, film and cultural studies, women studies, and the use of technology in the humanities. She has authored several articles on film adaptation theories, intertextuality (Berto, Bassani), feminism and utopianism (Banti, Ortese), historical narratives (Lampedusa, Morante, Eco), and the genre of the fantastic (Capuana). Millicent Marcus is specialized in Italian culture from the interdisciplinary perspectives of literature, history, and film. She is the author of An Allegory of Form: Literary Self- Consciousness in the Decameron, Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism, Filmmaking by the Book: Italian Cinema and Literary Adaptation, After Fellini: National Cinema in the Postmodern Age, and Italian Film in the Shadow of Auschwitz, as well as journal articles and encyclopedia entries on her fields of interest. Because literacy in the 21st century

5 must be broadened to include the mass media as well as the written text, she brings a cultural studies approach to her teaching and research. Eva Zanardi Head of Communications Italian Cultural Institute New York 686 Park Avenue New York, NY Tel ext.333 Fax eva.zanardi@esteri.it The Italian Cultural Institute Founded in 1961, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York is an office of the Italian government, dedicated to the promotion of Italian language and culture in the United States through the organization of cultural events. Under the guidance of its trustees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its advisory board, and its staff, the Italian Institute of Culture of New York conforms to this commitment by fostering the cultural exchange between Italy and the US in a variety of areas, from the arts to the humanities to science. Central to the Italian Cultural Institute's mission is a constant effort to encourage the understanding and enjoyment of Italian culture by organizing and promoting cultural events in collaboration with the most prominent academic and cultural institutions of the East Coast. The Italian Cultural Institute of New York focuses on the development of initiatives aimed at showcasing Italian excellence in various fields, such as science, technology, the arts and design. The development of academic exchanges, the organization and support of visual arts exhibitions, the grants for translation and publication of Italian books, the promotion of Italian studies, and the cooperation with local institutions in planning various events that focus on Italian music, dance, cinema, theater, architecture, literature, philosophy etc., are just a few examples of the Institute's initiatives. In conclusion, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York provides an "open window" on the cultural and social aspects of past and current Italy. Fondazione Giorgio Bassani The Foundation's missions is to honor and keep alive the memory of Giorgio Bassani, to collect, preserve, conserve, manage and develop documentation, and promotion of cultural activities and studies of various kinds with reference to the broad range of activities and the several interests of the writer. For further information, please visit: