Guelfo Civinini: poet, adventurer, and forgotten figure of Italian culture

Guelfo Civinini (born in Livorno, 1873 – died in Rome, 1954) was an Italian poet, journalist, and author celebrated for his fusion of aestheticism and activism. His childhood in the Maremma region, as noted by Eugenio Montale, led him to relocate to Rome at the age of ten. Civinini wrote for several newspapers under various aliases and released his debut poetry collection, L'urna, in 1901, followed by plays in 1904 and 1906. In 1908, he served as the librettist for Puccini's La fanciulla del West. He reported for Corriere della Sera until his resignation in 1920. In the 1920s, he searched for explorer Vittorio Bottego's tomb in Ethiopia. He received the Mussolini Prize in 1933, the Viareggio Prize in 1937, and the Marzotto Prize in 1953, spending WWII in Florence.