Edwin Cerio
Encyclopedia
Edwin Cerio was a prominent Italian writer, engineer, architect, historian, and botanist. He was born on the island of Capri
to an English artist mother and a well-known local physician, Ignazio Cerio
.
and Mechanical Engineering
, Cerio initially found employment in Germany
with the Krupp
dynasty in Kiel
, and from 1902 to 1915 designed shipyards and ships throughout Italy, Germany and Argentina. Fluent in six languages, he oversaw the construction and sale of German warships to South America, but with the outbreak of the First World War he became disillusioned, and resigned his post to return to his native island, where he would remain for the rest of his life.
Abandoning his former career as a naval engineer, Cerio began to deal in both horses and property on his native island - where he had already founded and edited a literary magazine (published in three languages) even while he had been working overseas. The magazine (known by its shortened form of "Tra", for Tra il riso e il pianto, or Between laughter and tears) was packed with poems, short stories, and satirical pieces about life in Capri.
to stay at one of his villas - a sojourn that was later part-fictionalised in the film Il Postino
(1994), although the action of the film was based on a novel Ardiente Pacienca by Antonio Skármeta
which deals with a later period of Neruda's life (when the poet was living at Isla Negra
, in Chile
).
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
to an English artist mother and a well-known local physician, Ignazio Cerio
Ignazio Cerio
Ignazio Cerio was an influential but eccentric physician and amateur philosopher on the island of Capri, in Italy. His father, imprisoned for his liberal beliefs, had spent his time in jail devising chemical concoctions and mechanical constructions that would never be made; Ignazio continued the...
.
Early life
With doctorates in both ShipbuildingShipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
and Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, Cerio initially found employment in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
with the Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
dynasty in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, and from 1902 to 1915 designed shipyards and ships throughout Italy, Germany and Argentina. Fluent in six languages, he oversaw the construction and sale of German warships to South America, but with the outbreak of the First World War he became disillusioned, and resigned his post to return to his native island, where he would remain for the rest of his life.
Abandoning his former career as a naval engineer, Cerio began to deal in both horses and property on his native island - where he had already founded and edited a literary magazine (published in three languages) even while he had been working overseas. The magazine (known by its shortened form of "Tra", for Tra il riso e il pianto, or Between laughter and tears) was packed with poems, short stories, and satirical pieces about life in Capri.
Political career
In 1920, as a self-proclaimed Liberal at a time when the Fascists were gaining ground in the rest of Italy, he was elected as Mayor of Capri. Although he held this post for just three years, he made an enormous impact on the way that the island would be governed for the rest of the century. To prevent Milanese property developers from destroying the traditional ambience of Capri, he organised (in 1922) a "conference for the defence of the landscape", whose planning groundrules continue to influence the government of Capri to this day. His passionate opposition to what he called the "sharks" who were building hotels, apartment blocks and department stores was not popular with everyone, however, and in 1923 he was voted out of office.Published works
For his next projects, Cerio began to catalogue the local flora and fauna, and he published a series of books on the history and wildlife of Capri, including an excellent account of seventeenth century life in Capri nel seicento (1934), alongside other works such as Flora privata di Capri (1939)' and L'ora di Capri (1950). In English, his best-known work is The Masque of Capri (1959), which is currently out of print.Cerio and Neruda
In 1950, Cerio invited Chilean author Pablo NerudaPablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
to stay at one of his villas - a sojourn that was later part-fictionalised in the film Il Postino
Il Postino
Il Postino is a 1994 Italian film directed by Michael Radford. The film was originally released in the U.S. as The Postman, a straight translation of the Italian title...
(1994), although the action of the film was based on a novel Ardiente Pacienca by Antonio Skármeta
Antonio Skármeta
Antonio Skármeta is a Chilean writer, born November 7, 1940 in Antofagasta, Chile. He was born to Croatian immigrants from the Adriatic island of Brač, region of Dalmatia....
which deals with a later period of Neruda's life (when the poet was living at Isla Negra
Isla Negra
Isla Negra is a coastal area in El Quisco commune in central Chile, some 45 km south of Valparaiso and 95 km west of Santiago.-Pablo Neruda:...
, in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
).