Massimo Bontempelli facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Massimo Bontempelli
Bontempelli in 1954
Born	(1878-05-12)12 May 1878 Como
Died	21 July 1960(1960-07-21) (aged 82) Rome
Occupation	novelist, short story writer, journalist, playwright, composer
Nationality	Italian
Genre	Novel, short story
Literary movement	Magical realism
Notable works	The Chess Set in the Mirror

Massimo Bontempelli (born May 12, 1878 – died July 21, 1960) was an Italian writer and composer. He wrote poems, plays, and novels. He is especially known for helping to create and popularize a unique writing style called magical realism.

His Early Life and Education

Massimo Bontempelli was born in Como, Italy. His father, Alfonso Bontempelli, was a train engineer. Because of his father's job, the family often moved to different cities.

Massimo went to high school in Milan. He later studied at the University of Turin. After finishing his studies, he taught literature in schools for several years. During this time, he also started writing. He published collections of poems and short stories. He also wrote a play called Costanza and a comedy called Santa Teresa.

Becoming a Writer and Journalist

Around 1910, Bontempelli stopped teaching. He moved to Florence and began working as a journalist. He wrote for many newspapers and magazines. He also worked for a publishing company.

In 1915, he became a cultural manager. He moved to Milan and helped publish classic Italian books. He also worked as a war reporter during World War I. He joined the army as an artillery officer in 1917. He earned several medals for his bravery.

After the war, in 1919, he published a book of poems. He then wrote two novels, La vita intense (1920) and La vita operosa (1921).

Discovering Magical Realism

In 1921 and 1922, Bontempelli worked as a journalist in Paris. There, he met many new French artists and writers. This experience greatly changed his ideas about modern art.

His short novels, The Chess Set in the Mirror (1922) and Eva ultima (1923), showed a new style. This style was inspired by dreams and unexpected events. It was similar to the ideas of Surrealism. Along with his friends Alberto Savinio and Giorgio de Chirico, he helped start surrealist art in Italy. He called this new style "magical realism."

Bontempelli then moved to Rome. He became friends with the famous playwright Luigi Pirandello. Pirandello encouraged him to write plays. Bontempelli wrote Nostra Dea (1925) and Minnie la candida (1927). Minnie la candida is considered one of his best plays. It is a fairy-tale drama that feels both real and dreamlike.

In 1926, Bontempelli and Curzio Malaparte started a magazine called "900". Famous writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf contributed to it. The magazine stopped publishing in 1929.

In 1927, Bontempelli began a relationship with Paola Masino. She was also a writer and worked with him on "900." They moved to Paris together. There, they met many important artists and thinkers.

His Time in Politics

In the 1920s and early 1930s, Bontempelli was involved with Fascism. He joined the Fascist Party in 1924. He believed fascism was the best way to create a modern society in Italy. He became a secretary for the fascist writers' union. In 1930, he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Italy.

However, Bontempelli started to disagree with fascism in the late 1930s. He wrote articles that criticized the government. In 1938, he refused to take a university job that had been taken from a Jewish professor. Because of this, he was removed from the Fascist Party. He was also forbidden from writing for a year. He and Paola Masino moved to Venice for a time.

After Benito Mussolini's government fell, Bontempelli returned to Rome. But the new government, the Republic of Salò, ordered his arrest. He and Masino had to hide. After Rome was freed, he helped start a weekly newspaper called Città. In 1945, he helped create a union for playwrights.

In 1948, Bontempelli won a seat in the Italian Senate. But his election was later cancelled. This was because he had edited school textbooks, and a new rule said people who wrote school texts could not hold public office for five years. In 1953, his book L'amante Fedele won the Strega Prize. This is Italy's most important literary award.

Family and Final Years

In 1909, Massimo Bontempelli married Amelia Della Pergola. They had a daughter who died as a baby, and a son named Massimo.

Massimo Bontempelli had poor health in his later years. He passed away in Rome on July 21, 1960, at the age of 82. He is buried in the Verano cemetery in Rome.

He had a long relationship with Paola Masino until his death. After he died, she helped publish his works. She also wrote a book about their life together.

Books and Plays by Bontempelli

Title page of Minnie la candida by Massimo Bontempelli (1928)

Bontempelli's Works in English

Many of Bontempelli's short stories and plays have been translated into English. Here are some of them:

• The Elevator Man. (1926)
• The Good Wind. (1927)
• Foundations. (1927)
• Sweet Adeline. (1928)
• Meeting Batoletti — A Railway Station Extravaganza. (1930)
• Letters of Introduction (1961/62)
• Dea by Dea. (1995)
• Separations: Two Novels of Mothers and Children (2000)
• The Divine Miss D and Genuine Minnie (2003)
• The Chess Set in the Mirror (2006)
• The Faithful Lover (2007)
• On A Locomotive & Other Runaway Tales. (2013)
• Watching the Moon and Other Plays. (2013)

See Also

In Spanish: Massimo Bontempelli para niños

• Fascism
• Futurism (literature)