Ada Negri
Encyclopedia
Ada Negri was an Italian poet
and writer.
Her first volume of lyrics, Fatalità, (1892) confirmed her reputation as a poet, and led to her appointment to the normal school at Milan. Her second book of poems, Tempeste (1896), tells the helpless tragedy
of the forsaken poor, in words of vehement beauty.
On March 28, 1896, she married industrialist Giovanni Garlanda of Biella, who fell in love with her from reading her poetry. By 1904, they had daughters Bianca and Vittoria. The latter died in infancy. In 1913, Negri separated from her husband and moved to Switzerland with Bianca.
Afterwards, she often moved. She was a frequent visitor to Laglio
in Lake Como
, where she wrote her only novel, an autobiographical work, Stella Mattutina (Morning Star) published in 1921. It was published in English in 1930. During an extended stay on Capri that began in March 1923, she wrote I canti dell’isola. On January 11, 1945, her daughter Bianca found her dead in her studio in Milan.
She became the first woman member of the Italian Academy in 1940.
, called her work as “facile, tearful, completely centered on the melodiousness and readiness of emotions — poetics that are somewhat melancholy, idyllic-elegiac.” He dismissed her, writing that a “lack or imperfection in artistic work is most particularly a feminine flaw (difetto femminile). It is precisely woman’s maternal instinct, her ‘stupendous and all-consuming’ ability to mother a child that prevents her from successfully giving birth to a fully realized literary work.”
However, other critics saw her as “someone whose vision focused on the toils of life in a way few other writers did during those troubled times. Her naturally lyrical soul knew, in the major parts of her works, how to transform with an imprint of originality the sufferings, the bitterness, the joys of an entire generation.” She was also described as a writer who “abolished established conventions, and shaped her lyrics according to the rhythms of the heart, in sync to whatever it is that makes the winds blow, gives rise to the waters and pulse to the stars — a poetry infinitely free, capricious and precise.”
Her early works provided a strong voice to the plight of the poor and neglected in society, and she was embraced as a Socialist heroine. As her poetry moved to more personal realms with volumes like Maternità, some felt she had abandoned her political mission, and so they abandoned her. However, many consider Il libro di Mara, based on her tragic affair and her lover’s premature death, and I canti dell’isola to be her creative highpoint. However, her work and her life continued to be haunted by the injustice of life, and she even refused to allow her final volume of poetry to be published until World War II ended. Like many Italian writers of this period her reputation still suffers harm from being connected with the Fascist movement, and receiving the Mussolini Prize in 1931 only stiffens that reaction.
Her work was widely translated during her lifetime, with individual poems published in newspaper in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and writer.
Biography
She was born in Lodi into an artisan family to Giuseppe Negri and his wife Vittoria Cornalba. She attended Lodi’s Normal School for Girls and earned an elementary teacher’s diploma. At eighteen, she took a position as schoolteacher in the village of Motta Visconti, on the Ticino, near Pavia.Her first volume of lyrics, Fatalità, (1892) confirmed her reputation as a poet, and led to her appointment to the normal school at Milan. Her second book of poems, Tempeste (1896), tells the helpless tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
of the forsaken poor, in words of vehement beauty.
On March 28, 1896, she married industrialist Giovanni Garlanda of Biella, who fell in love with her from reading her poetry. By 1904, they had daughters Bianca and Vittoria. The latter died in infancy. In 1913, Negri separated from her husband and moved to Switzerland with Bianca.
Afterwards, she often moved. She was a frequent visitor to Laglio
Laglio
Laglio is a small comune on the western shore of the south-western branch of Lake Como. Administratively it falls within the Province of Como in the northern Italian region of Lombardy...
in Lake Como
Lake Como
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
, where she wrote her only novel, an autobiographical work, Stella Mattutina (Morning Star) published in 1921. It was published in English in 1930. During an extended stay on Capri that began in March 1923, she wrote I canti dell’isola. On January 11, 1945, her daughter Bianca found her dead in her studio in Milan.
She became the first woman member of the Italian Academy in 1940.
Criticism
Some critics felt that her later verse, while striking in its sincerity, suffered from a tendency to repetition and consequent mannerism. Benedetto CroceBenedetto Croce
Benedetto Croce was an Italian idealist philosopher, and occasionally also politician. He wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, methodology of history writing and aesthetics, and was a prominent liberal, although he opposed laissez-faire free trade...
, called her work as “facile, tearful, completely centered on the melodiousness and readiness of emotions — poetics that are somewhat melancholy, idyllic-elegiac.” He dismissed her, writing that a “lack or imperfection in artistic work is most particularly a feminine flaw (difetto femminile). It is precisely woman’s maternal instinct, her ‘stupendous and all-consuming’ ability to mother a child that prevents her from successfully giving birth to a fully realized literary work.”
However, other critics saw her as “someone whose vision focused on the toils of life in a way few other writers did during those troubled times. Her naturally lyrical soul knew, in the major parts of her works, how to transform with an imprint of originality the sufferings, the bitterness, the joys of an entire generation.” She was also described as a writer who “abolished established conventions, and shaped her lyrics according to the rhythms of the heart, in sync to whatever it is that makes the winds blow, gives rise to the waters and pulse to the stars — a poetry infinitely free, capricious and precise.”
Her early works provided a strong voice to the plight of the poor and neglected in society, and she was embraced as a Socialist heroine. As her poetry moved to more personal realms with volumes like Maternità, some felt she had abandoned her political mission, and so they abandoned her. However, many consider Il libro di Mara, based on her tragic affair and her lover’s premature death, and I canti dell’isola to be her creative highpoint. However, her work and her life continued to be haunted by the injustice of life, and she even refused to allow her final volume of poetry to be published until World War II ended. Like many Italian writers of this period her reputation still suffers harm from being connected with the Fascist movement, and receiving the Mussolini Prize in 1931 only stiffens that reaction.
Her work was widely translated during her lifetime, with individual poems published in newspaper in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Poetry
- Fatalità (1892)
- Tempeste (1896)
- Maternità (1904)
- Dal profondo (1910)
- Esilio (1914)
- Il libro di Mara (1919), translated into English by Maria A. Costantini and published as The Book of Mara by Italica Press (2011)
- I canti dell’isola (1925), translated into English by Maria A. Costantini and published as Songs of the Island by Italica Press (2011)
- Vespertina (1930)
- Il dono (1936)
- Fons amoris (1946) published posthumously
Prose
- Le solitarie (1917)
- Orazioni (1918)
- Stella mattutina (1921), publishing in English as Morning Star (1930)
- Finestre alte (1923)
- Le strade (1926)
- Sorelle (1929)
- Di giorno in giorno (1932)
- Erba sul sagrato (1939)
- Oltre (1947) published posthumously