Luigi Pirandello
L.
Pirandello was born in Girgenti (modern Agrigento)(the ancient greeck colony of
akragas) in 1867, the son of a sulphur merchant. He attended the technical
institute in his hometown (up to the second year) and the "Liceo" in
Palermo where his family had moved after some financial troubles.
After
taking his certificate, he matriculated at the faculty of law and the faculty of
Literature in Palermo and in 1887 he moved to Rome. He left the university after
a quarrel with the classics professor. He went to the university in Boon. He met
Jenny Schulz-Lander at a fancy-dress ball. Pirandello dedicated her the second
volume of his poems "Pasqua di Gea". The writer fell in love with this
girl who was very important in his life, a love which didn't come true.
In 1891
he gained his doctorate in philology for a thesis on the dialect of Girgenti. In
the same year he came back to Italy and settled in Rome.
In 1894
he married Marie A. Portolano, daughter of a business associate. He had a child,
Stephen. After the early poems written in Germany, P. Started writing articles
and short criticism for newspapers and magazines. In 1897 he was a teacher at a
college in Rome. In 1897 and 1899 his children "Rosalia" and
"Fortunato" were born the year 1893 was a difficult one, since a
landslide in his father's sulphurmine caused some financial troubles: in fact
his wife's and his father's capital had been invested in the mine. His wife was
admitted to sanatorium because of insanity.
In 1901
P. Published "L'Esclusa" (the outcast) and in 1902 "Il
turno". In 1904 he became famous thanks to "Il fu mattia pascal"
("The late Mattia Pascal"). In 1908 he was a professor at a college,
solving partly his financial problems. He published two important essays:
"L'Umorismo" and "Arte e scienza" that caused a contrast
with B. Croce. In 1909 the novel " I vecchi e i giovani" ("The
young and the old") was published and the
Year after his
first plays "La morsa" and "Lumie di Sicilia" were
represented in the mean time he went on writing and publishing short stories with
the title “Novelle per un anno”
.
The year
1915 was very sad one in Pirandello’s life: Italy entered the war and his son
Stephen left to the front where he was imprisoned. Morever his mother died.
In 1916 P wrote his plays "Pensaci Giacomino!", "Liolà", "La ragione degli altri".
In 1917
he wrote “Cosi è se vi pare” ("Right you are"). In 1921 his play
“Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore” caused some contrast among the audience
at the opening performance but it was cheered later.
Pirandello wrote “Enrico IV” in 1922, “Vestire gli
ignudi” in 1922, “Ciascuno a
modo suo”in 1924, etc. In
1926 he published his last novel “Uno, nessuno, centomila”.
A
hundred thousand and founded the “teatro d’arte” where Marta Abba debutted,
becoming the inspiring muse of some comedies.
In 1934
Pirandello won the nobel prize for literature. He died on december 10,
1936 in his will he requested that there should be no public ceremony.