Antonio Delfini: The Forgotten Surrealist Writer of Modena
Antonio Delfini (Modena, 1907–1963) was an Italian surrealist and author whose literary contributions remained largely overlooked during his life. Hailing from a waning noble lineage, he became involved with the Fascist youth at the age of 13 and subsequently joined the National Fascist Party. In the late 1920s, he was a co-founder of L'ariete (1927) and established Lo spettatore italiano (1928–29). His work Ritorno in città was published in 1931, and in 1935, he relocated to Florence, forming friendships with writers such as Carlo Bo and Eugenio Montale. In 1938, he released Il ricordo della basca. After an unsuccessful political endeavor, he settled in Viareggio in 1946, authored Manifesto per un partito conservatore e comunista (1951), and launched Il Liberale (1952). Delfini passed away in 1963, just before receiving the Premio Viareggio for I Racconti.
Key facts
- Antonio Delfini was born in Modena in 1907 and died in 1963.
- He co-founded the magazine L'ariete in 1927 with Pietro Zanfrognini and Ugo Guandalini.
- He founded Lo spettatore italiano (1928–29) and collaborated with Il Tevere.
- He published Ritorno in città in 1931, a collection of prose poems.
- He moved to Florence in 1935 after selling the family palace.
- He was friends with Carlo Bo, Carlo Emilio Gadda, Tommaso Landolfi, Mario Luzi, and Eugenio Montale.
- He published Il ricordo della basca in 1938.
- He wrote Manifesto per un partito conservatore e comunista in 1951.
- He ran for Senate with Unità popolare in 1953 but was not elected.
- He founded the magazine Il Liberale in 1952.
- He published La Rosina perduta in 1957, which included Il fanalino della Battimonda (1940).
- He fell in love with Luisa Bormioli, who did not reciprocate.
- Poesie della fine del mondo was published in 1961 by Feltrinelli thanks to Giorgio Bassani.
- He died in 1963 from post-surgery complications.
- He won the Premio Viareggio posthumously for I Racconti.
- Einaudi published his Diari in 1982, championed by Natalia Ginzburg.
- A new edition of Diari was published in 2022 by Einaudi, edited by Irene Babboni with a preface by Marco Belpoliti.
- The city of Modena dedicated its civic library to Delfini in 1992.
Entities
Artists
- Antonio Delfini
- Pietro Zanfrognini
- Ugo Guandalini
- Mario Panunzio
- Alberto Moravia
- Carlo Bo
- Carlo Emilio Gadda
- Tommaso Landolfi
- Mario Luzi
- Eugenio Montale
- Ermanno Cavazzoni
- Antonio Castronuovo
- Luisa Bormioli
- Giorgio Bassani
- Natalia Ginzburg
- Irene Babboni
- Marco Belpoliti
- Ludovico Pratesi
Institutions
- Partito Nazionale Fascista
- Guanda
- L'ariete
- Lo spettatore italiano
- Il Tevere
- Oggi
- Il Selvaggio
- Giubbe Rosse
- Feltrinelli
- Premio Viareggio
- Einaudi
- Biblioteca civica di Modena
- Unità popolare
- Artribune
Locations
- Modena
- Italy
- Firenze
- Viareggio
- Parma
- Roma
- Corso Canalgrande