Anna Maria Ortese

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Anna Maria Ortese (copyrights unclear)

Anna Maria Ortese (born June 13, 1914 in Rome ; died March 9, 1998 in Rapallo ) was an Italian writer.

Life

Anna Maria Ortese was the second youngest child in a low-income family; she had four brothers and a sister. Her mother's maiden name was Beatrice Vaccà and she came from Naples . On her father's side she had Catalan ancestors; the name "Ortese" was an Italianized form of "Ortez". Her father worked in the public sector, which meant that the family had to move frequently. These childhood impressions were later reflected in her work.

From 1924 to 1928 the family lived in the Italian colony in Tripoli , then in Naples, which was to become particularly important for Ortese. She finished her school education there and from then on only continued her education as an autodidact.

Her first texts, a series of poems, some of which had the death of her favorite brother Emanuele on the subject, she published in 1933 in La fiera letteraria . In 1937 a collection of short stories followed under the title Angelici dolori . During this time, the Ortese family gradually dissolved: A second Ortese brother died in Albania , the last two brothers emigrated to Australia and Canada . The parents died in 1950 and 1952.

Anna Maria Ortese, who worked as a reporter in addition to her writing activities and constantly had financial problems, traveled extensively in Italy. From 1950 to 1970 she lived for longer periods in Rome and Milan , and in 1975 she settled in Rapallo in Liguria , where she bought a property in 1986.

Prizes, awards and criticism

Anna Maria Ortese was not very well known during her lifetime, but received numerous prizes and awards, including the Premio Viareggio for Il mare non bagna Napoli in 1953, the Premio Strega for Poveri e semplici in 1967 , and the Procida-Elsa Prize for In sonno e in veglia in 1988 Morante and in 1998 the Prix de meilleur livre étranger for the French edition of Il Cardillo addolorato .

However, she regularly fell out with her publishers and was at times heavily attacked, including by Massimo Bontempelli , who strongly criticized Angelici Dolori . Il mare non bagna Napoli , which was originally conceived as a report and was part of a project launched by the Gruppo Sud , contained a severe criticism of the young intellectuals of Naples at the time, which meant that Ortese was hardly any more in Italy for years was received. L'Iguana from 1965 tells the story of a rich man from Milan who falls in love with a female iguana from the fictional island of Ocaña - a name that Robert Louis Stevenson used in his Treasure Island . He tries to bring the love for such beings back to society, but dies without having achieved this goal. The audience and most of the critics did not like this work as it was difficult to understand. Ortese, who thought this tale was her best, reacted bitterly to the book's reluctance to accept it. She began to write her autobiography , in which she particularly dealt with her development as a writer. With Il Porto di Toledo. Ricordi della vita irreale , she developed a new form of autobiographical writing, in a "new language" that she considered appropriate to express what moved her. The book came out in 1975 and became a literary failure. Only 200 copies were sold at that time, critics and the public quickly forgot it. It was only when she came into contact with Roberto Calasso from Adelphi Verlag that her writing career took a turn. In 1993, Il cardillo addolorato was published, a short story set in 18th century Naples. With this book she became internationally known. In 1996, Alonso ei visionari followed , in which Alonso, a mountain lion from Arizona who embodies the "spirit of the world", is endangered. This book was less successful than Il cardillo addolorato . Shortly before her death, a revised new edition of Il Porto di Toledo was published.

Ortese also published two volumes of poetry under the titles Il mio paese è la notte and La luna che trascorre ; several books with travelogues and the collection of essays Corpo celeste were also published .

Aftermath

Anna Maria Ortese is posthumously seen as one of the most authentic and original writers of her time and is now read with interest. Your often-expressed view that man is only a guest on earth and has to behave respectfully and gently towards the other inhabitants of his planet, now hits the nerve of the times.

Luca Clerici wrote a biography of Ortes, which also contains an extensive bibliography in which Anna Maria Ortes compiled numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Another bibliography comes from Giuseppe Iannaccone. In 2002 Anna Maria Ortese: o, Dell'indipendenza poetica by Gabriella Fiori was published by Bollati Boringhieri in Turin .

Works (selection)

  • Iguana: a romantic fairy tale . From d. Italy. by Sigrid Vagt. Munich ; Vienna: Hanser 1988
  • The thistle finch's lament. From d. Italy. by Sigrid Vagt. Munich; Vienna; Hanser 1995
  • Stazione Centrale and other Milanese stories. From Italy. by Barbara Kleiner and Viktoria von Schirach. Munich; Vienna; Hanser 1993

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The DNB describes this year of birth as "different" and instead names 1915.
  2. ↑ Dagmar Kübler, Anna Maria Ortese at www.fembio.org
  3. ↑ Cosetta Seno Reed, Ortese, Anna Maria (1914-1998) , The University of California at Berkeley, 2004
personal data
SURNAME Ortese, Anna Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH March 9, 1998
Place of death Rapallo