Carlo Maria Franzero

Carlo Maria Francisco Zero (* 21st December 1892 in Turin ; † 29. June 1986 in London ) was an Italian journalist and writer .

Life

Franzero studied in his native Turin until 1915 and embarked on the professional career of a journalist. However, when the Second World War loomed, Benito Mussolini's opponent of fascism fled Italy and found a second home in England.

Here he worked from 1941 to 1946 as a journalist for the Daily Telegraph . After the end of the war he stayed in London and took up a job as a foreign correspondent for the Italian newspaper Il Tempo in 1950 .

In addition, he wrote nonfiction books on historical ( Roman Britain ) and literary topics (e.g. a biography of Oscar Wilde and a treatise on the English exile of the poet Ugo Foscolo ). However, he became known to a wide audience through his numerous historical novels, the plot of which, in the form of portraits of well-known historical figures, was mostly set in the context of Roman antiquity. The protagonists of his novels include a. Peter , Pontius Pilate , the last Etruscan king Tarquinius Superbus , Beau Brummell and Nero appear. He often drew the characters contrary to the usual representation in historiography and literature, so that z. B. his Nero turns into a complex, but more tragic than negative ruler figure.

Franzero's novel about Cleopatra VII also served as the central template for the script of the 1963 monumental film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz with Elizabeth Taylor in the title role.

Franzero, who also published under the pseudonym Charles Marie Franzero , was a member of the PEN and holder of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic .

Works (selection)

• 1935: Roman Britain . Allen & Unwin.
• 1937: Oscar Wilde . Sansoni.
• 1941: Inside Italy . Hodder & Stoughton.
• 1941: The House of Mrs. Caroline . Howell & Soskin.
• 1945: Appasionata . Allen & Unwin
• 1948: The Memoirs of Pontius Pilate . Allen & Unwin.
• 1950: The Story of St. Peter's . WH Allen.
• 1956: Nero ( The Life and Times of Nero ). Philosophical Library, German first publication Winkler, Munich 1955.
• 1957: Cleopatra ( The Life and Times of Cleopatra ). Philosophical Library, German first publication Winkler, Munich 1957.
• 1958: The Life and Times of Beau Brummell . Redman.
• 1961: Tarquin the Etruscans ( The Life and Times of Tarquin the Etruscan ). Redman, German first publication Winkler, Munich 1961.
• 1971: Ugo Foscolo a Londra . Guandra.

Web link

• Scores by Carlo Maria Francisco Zero in the catalog of the German National Library