Salvatore Quasimodo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Salvatore Quasimodo
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| Born | 20 August 1901 Modica, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | 14 June 1968 (aged 66) Naples, Campania, Italy |
| Resting place | Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, Italy |
| Occupation | Author |
| Literary movement | Hermeticism (poetry) |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Literature 1959 |
Salvatore Quasimodo (born August 20, 1901 – died June 14, 1968) was a famous Italian poet and translator. He is known for his beautiful and deep poems. In 1959, he won the important Nobel Prize in Literature. He received this award because his poems used a classic style to talk about the tough experiences of life in his time. He was one of the most important Italian poets of the 1900s, along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Salvatore Quasimodo was born in Modica, a town in Sicily, Italy. His parents were Gaetano Quasimodo and Clotilde Ragusa. He spent his early childhood in a place called Roccalumera.
Moving to Messina
In 1908, his family moved to Messina. His father worked there to help people after a terrible earthquake. Seeing the effects of this natural disaster deeply affected young Salvatore. In 1919, he finished his studies at a local Technical College. In Messina, he also became friends with Giorgio La Pira, who later became the mayor of Florence.
Studies and Early Work
In 1919, Quasimodo moved to Rome. He planned to study engineering, but he didn't have much money. So, he found a job as a technical draughtsman, which is someone who draws detailed plans. At the same time, he wrote for different magazines. He also studied Greek and Latin.
Becoming a Poet
In 1929, Salvatore Quasimodo moved to Florence. He was invited by Elio Vittorini, who was married to Quasimodo's sister. In Florence, he met other poets like Alessandro Bonsanti and Eugenio Montale.
First Poems and Collections
In 1930, he started working for Italy's Civil Engineering Corps in Reggio Calabria. Here, he met the Misefari brothers, who encouraged him to keep writing. That same year, he published his first collection of poems called Acque e terre (which means "Waters and Earths"). His poems at this time were part of a style called Hermeticism. This style used a "closed" or complex language.
Moving to Milan
In 1931, he moved to Imperia and then to Genoa. There, he met other writers and began working with Circoli magazine. In 1932, he published a new collection of poems called Oboe sommerso. This book included all the poems he wrote between 1930 and 1932.
In 1934, Quasimodo moved to Milan. From 1938, he focused only on writing. He worked with a writer named Cesare Zavattini and for Letteratura magazine. This magazine was important for the Hermetic poetry movement. In 1938, he published Poesie. He also translated Lirici Greci ("Greek Poets") in 1939.
Later Life and Nobel Prize
During World War II, Salvatore Quasimodo did not join the Italian resistance against the German army. Instead, he spent his time translating old texts. He translated parts of the Gospel of John, some poems by Catullus, and parts of the Odyssey. In 1945, he became a member of a political party.
Poems of Social Change
In 1946, he published another collection called Giorno dopo giorno ("Day After Day"). In these poems, he started to write more about social issues and his feelings about society. This style continued in his next works, like La vita non è sogno ("Life Is Not a Dream") and La terra impareggiabile ("The Incomparable Land"). During this time, he also kept translating classic writers. He also wrote articles about theater for important Italian newspapers.
Awards and Recognition
In the 1950s, Quasimodo won several important literary awards. These included the Premio San Babila (1950), Premio Etna-Taormina (1953), and Premio Viareggio (1958). The biggest award came in 1959 when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He also received special degrees from universities. In 1960, he got an honorary degree from the University of Messina. In 1967, he received another one from the University of Oxford in England.
Final Years
In his last years, Salvatore Quasimodo traveled a lot. He visited many places in Europe and America. He gave speeches and read his poems to audiences. His poems had been translated into many different languages.
In June 1968, he was in Amalfi for a speech when he had a brain hemorrhage. He passed away a few days later in a hospital in Naples. He was buried in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan.
His Poetic Style
Experts often divide Quasimodo's poetry into two main periods. The first is the Hermetic period, which lasted until World War II. The second is the post-Hermetic period, which continued until he died. Even though these periods are different, they show his journey to find his own unique way of writing.
Language and Themes
Quasimodo was a very smart and skilled poet. In his early Hermetic poems, he used a "closed" or complex language. He wrote about recurring themes like Sicily, religion, and death. Later, when he translated ancient Roman and Greek writers, it helped him expand his writing style.
The sadness and feeling of meaninglessness from World War II also changed his poetry. However, this bitterness faded in his later writings. His final poems showed the wise voice of an older poet thinking about the world around him.
See also
In Spanish: Salvatore Quasimodo para niños
