Vincenzo Rabito: the illiterate writer who became an Italian literary sensation

Vincenzo Rabito (1899–1981), born in Chiaramonte Gulfi, Sicily, was an illiterate laborer who became a literary phenomenon after his death. He worked as a farmhand, fought in WWI, attempted colonial ventures in Africa in the 1920s, mined coal in Germany during WWII, and later worked as a roadman in Sicily. In retirement, between 1967 and 1970, he typed a 1,000-page manuscript on an Olivetti Lettera 32 using a unique ungrammatical style with semicolons separating every word. His son Giovanni submitted the manuscript to the Archivio Diaristico Nazionale in Pieve Santo Stefano in 1999, where it won the annual prize in 2000. Published by Einaudi in 2007 as "Terra matta," edited by Luca Ricci and Evelina Santangelo, the book garnered critical acclaim. In 2009, Vincenzo Pirrotta adapted it for theater; in 2012, Costanza Quatriglio and Chiara Ottaviano directed the documentary "Terramatta," presented at the Venice Film Festival. Rabito's WWI passages are used as historical testimonies. His memory is preserved by his son Giovanni through a dedicated website.