Alfonso Gatto: The Forgotten Poet of 20th Century Italy

Alfonso Gatto (1909-1976), born in Salerno to a modest family of Calabrian sailors, was a major Italian poet of the second half of the 20th century, now largely forgotten. He published his first poetry collection, "Isola," at age 23, earning praise from Sandro Penna and Eugenio Montale. His second book, "Morto ai paesi," aligned with Hermetic poetry, a movement he championed through the journal "Campo di Marte," which he co-founded with Vasco Pratolini and directed from 1938 to 1939. The journal featured contributions from Carlo Bo, Giuseppe Ungaretti, and Mario Luzi. Gatto taught Italian literature at the Liceo Artistico di Bologna for two years before joining the Resistance in 1943 and the Communist Party. After WWII, he worked for the Milanese edition of "L'Unità" as a special correspondent and sports journalist covering the Giro d'Italia. An avid cycling fan despite never learning to ride properly—Fausto Coppi once offered to teach him—Gatto's later work, including "La forza degli occhi" (1954) and "Osteria flegrea" (1962, both Mondadori), reflected a rediscovery of his Southern roots. He died in a car accident in Orbetello on March 8, 1976. His tomb in Salerno bears a farewell from Montale: "To Alfonso Gatto, for whom life and poetry were a single testimony of love."