Massimo Bontempelli was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 poet, playwright, and novelist. He was influential in developing and promoting the literary style known as magical realism

Magic realism

Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...

.

Life

Bontempelli graduated from the University of Torino in 1903. He taught elementary school for seven years, doing his writing on the side, but abandoned teaching for journalism when he could not secure a position at a secondary school. He served as a war correspondent during WWI. After the war, he settled in Milan and became interested in the literary styles of futurism and magical realism. In 1926, he, along with Curzio Malaparte

Curzio Malaparte

Curzio Malaparte , born Kurt Erich Suckert, was an Italian journalist, dramatist, short-story writer, novelist and diplomat...

, founded the journal "900"

"900", Cahiers d'Italie et d'Europe

"900", Cahiers d'Italie et d'Europe was an Italian magazine published for the first time in November 1926, directed by Massimo Bontempelli with Curzio Malaparte as co-director...

. James Joyce

James Joyce

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

, Max Jacob

Max Jacob

Max Jacob was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.-Life and career:After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career...

, and Rainer Maria Rilke

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...

 sat on the editorial committee and Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf

Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....

 and Blaise Cendrars

Blaise Cendrars

Frédéric Louis Sauser , better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss novelist and poet naturalized French in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the modernist movement.-Early years:...

 were among the contributors.

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Bontempelli was an active fascist. He served as a secretary of the fascist writers' union and spent time abroad lecturing on Italian culture and spreading propaganda. In 1938, he refused to accept a university post formerly held by a Jewish professor and was kicked out of the fascist party. After WWII, Bontempelli won a Senate race but the results were voided when his fascist ties were discovered. In 1953, Bontempelli's "L'amante Fedele" won the Strega Prize

Strega Prize

The Strega Prize is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction by an Italian author and first published between 1 May of the previous year and 30 April...

, Italy's most prestigious literary award. After years of declining health, Bontempelli died in Rome in 1960.

Works

1908 Socrate moderno

1912 I sette savi

1919 Il purosangue

1920 La vita intensa - Romanzo dei romanzi; La guardia alla luna

1921 La vita operosa; Nuovi racconti d'avventure

1922 Viaggi e scoperte; La scacchiera davanti allo specchio (The Chess Set in the Mirror); Ultime avventure

1923 Eva ultima (Last Eva)

1924 La donna del Nadir

1925 La donna dei miei sogni e altre avventure moderne; Nostra Dea

1926 L'eden della tartaruga

1928 Donna nel sole, e altri idilli; Minnie la candida

1929 Il figlio di due madri (The Boy with Two Mothers); Il neosofista

1930 Vita e morte di Adria e dei suoi figli (The Life and Death of Adria and Her Children)

1931 Mia vita, morte e miracoli; Stato d grazia

1932 La famiglia del fabbro; <<522>> Racconto di una giornata; Valoria

1934 Galleria degli schiavi; Bassano padre geloso

1937 Gente nel tempo (People in Time)

1938 L'avventura novecentista

1941 Giro del sole

1942 Sette discorsi

1945 Le notti (The Nights); L'acqua (Water)

1946 L'ottuagenaria

1953 L'amante fedele (The Faithful Lover)

Works in English translation

—Separations: Two Novels of Mothers and Children (Figlio di due madri / The Boy with Two Mothers and Vita e morte di Adria e dei suoi figli / The Life and Death of Adria and Her Children). Translated by Estelle Gilson. McPherson & Co, 2000.

—The Chess Set in the Mirror (La scacchiera davanti allo specchio). Translated by Estelle Gilson. Illustrated by Sergio Tofano

Sergio Tofano

Sergio Tòfano was an Italian actor, director, playwright, scene designer and illustrator....

. Paul Dry Books, 2006.

—The Faithful Lover (L'amante fedele). Translated by Estelle Gilson with an introduction by Luigi Fontanella. Host Publications, 2007, http://www.hostpublications.com

— Letters of Introduction Translated by W.L. Dale. The Cornhill Magazine, No. 1030, Winter 1961/62 pages 268-271.

External links

—Separations: Two Novels of Mothers and Children publicity page.

—The Chess Set in the Mirror publicity page.

—The Faithful Lover publicity page.

• Massimo Bontempelli Papers, 1865-1991. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California Collection details the creative output and life story of Italian writer and composer Massimo Bontempelli (1878-1960) through extensive correspondence and photographs (bulk 1920-1960), manuscripts, typescripts, drafts, clippings, and other media.