Emilio Salgari

Emilio Salgari

Emilio Carlo Giuseppe Maria Salgari (born August 21, 1862 in Verona , † April 25, 1911 in Turin ) was an Italian writer who wrote adventure and historical novels .

Life

Emilio Salgari was born into a family of small merchants. The father Luigi came from Verona, the mother from Venice . Although he was only mediocre in school, he dreamed of becoming the captain of the Great Voyage and getting to know distant countries and exotic peoples. The entertainment journal Giornale Illustrato dei Viaggi e delle Avventure di Terra e di Mare exerted a particular influence on him, which from 1878 published stories by popular adventure authors such as those by Gustave Aimard and Thomas Mayne Reid (1818-1883). Inspired by this reading, he moved to his aunt in Venice, where he attended the Royal Institute for Technology and Maritime Studies (Istituto Tecnico e Nautico "P. Sarpi"), where he finished his studies with moderate success. Only in the subject 'Italian' did he achieve outstanding results. When he failed the exam, he decided not to retake the exam. In order to still realize his dream, he hired as a cabin boy on the Trabaccolo Italia Una , on which he got to know the Adriatic Sea to Brindisi .

A writer's existence

After this brief adventure, he returned to his family in Verona in 1883 and began writing. In 1883 he sent a first story , I selvaggi della Papuasia (The savages of Papua country) , about the adventures of a castaway in New Guinea to the recently created magazine for travel and adventure literature La Valigia , where she was accepted and published in four installments . The story was successful and helped him to his first fame and further orders. So the Nuova Arena magazine offered him to publish his other stories with her in the future. As a result, the paper gained such popularity that the older rival paper Arena Salgari recruited and permanently hired it as an editor.

In 1890 he met the amateur actress Ida Peruzzi, whom he married on January 20, 1892. The following year his daughter Fathima was born, named after the heroine of one of his novels. In the following years he changed his place of residence several times. In order to be close to his respective publisher, he switched back and forth between Turin, Genoa and other cities. In 1893 he settled in Turin. Meanwhile, his wife had given birth to two more children, who were also named after characters from his works (Nadir and Romero).

From 1893 to 1897 Salgari worked for various youth magazines, such as Il Giovedì , Silvio Pellico , Il Novelliere illustrato and L'Innocenza . During these years the well-known frames of the jungle cycle - I misteri della Jungla Nera (1895) and I pirati della malesia (1896) - were created by the Donath publishing house in Genoa, with whom he later concluded a four-year contract.

In 1898 the Salgari family moved to Genoa, the novels Le stragi delle Filippine and a little later the most famous Italian adventure novel, Il corsaro nero, appeared . In Genoa Salgari also met the two illustrators of his work, Giuseppe Gamba and Luigi Motta (1881–1955). In 1900 Salgari moved back to Turin, his fourth child Omar, who later also wrote adventure novels in the style of his father, was born. In 1906 he terminated his contract with the Donath publishing house on payment of a fine of six thousand lire and concluded a more lucrative one with Bemporad in Florence . From 1906 Salgari began another cycle with the novel Sulle frontiere del Far West , this time set in the Wild West .

Last years of life

His wife began to show more and more signs of mental illness . Salgari found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his work, so that around 1909 he attempted suicide . He threw himself on his sword, but the blade slipped off, injuring him only slightly.

Recovered, he went back to work, but it was getting harder and harder for him. He threatened to go blind and could barely read his own extremely small writing. In 1911 his wife was admitted to an institution because of her progressive mental illness. Salgari could not cope with this stroke of fate. On April 25, 1911, he wrote three farewell letters: one to his children, one to his publisher and the third to the director of Giornali Torinesi, before getting dressed for a walk and going out. With the razor he had taken with him, he killed himself in the manner of Japanese seppuku (hara-kiri).

Other works such as La rivincita di Yanez or Le straordinarie avventure di Testa di Pietra appeared posthumously.

Services

Salgari quickly gained great popularity outside of Italy. In Germany many of his works appeared in splendid execution and were very successful. Because of this popularity, he was soon referred to as an Italian Karl May and his works were advertised with this label.

His best-known works include the novel cycles about Sandokan , the "Tiger of Malaysia" (eleven volumes), and the Black Corsairs (five volumes), which have also been filmed several times and are still successfully reissued today.

Works

• La Favorita del Mahdi - The Mahdi's Favorite , 1887
• Duemila leghe sotto l'America - 20,000 Leagues Under the American Continent , 1888
• La scimitarra di Budda - The Sword of the Buddha , 1892
• I pescatori di balene - The Whaler , 1894
• Il tesoro del presidente del Paraguay - The Treasure of the President of Paraguay , 1894
• Il Continente Misterioso - The Mysterious Continent , 1894
• Le novelle marinaresche di Mastro Catrame - The Sea Adventures of Mastro Castrame , 1894
• I misteri della jungla nera - The secrets of the black jungle ( Sandokan 1 ), 1895
• Il Re della Montagna - The Mountain King , 1895
• I naufraghi del Poplador - The shipwrecked of the Poplador , 1895
• Un dramma nell'Oceano Pacifico - A drama in the Pacific Ocean , 1895
• Valor di fanciulla by Ferdinand Calmettes (translation from French), 1895
• Spade al vento by Enrico de Brisay (translation from French), 1895
• Nel Paese dei Ghiacci - In the Land of Eternal Ice , 1896
• I drammi della schiavitù– The drama of slavery , 1896
• Il Re della Prateria - The King of the Prairie , 1896
• Attraverso ll'Atlantico in pallone - In a balloon over the Atlantic , 1896
• Al Polo Australe in velocipede - By bike to the South Pole , 1896
• I Pirati della Malesia - The Pirates of Malaysia ( Sandokan 2 ), 1896
• I naufragatori dell'Oregon - The castaways of the Oregon , 1896
• I Robinson Italiani - The Italian Robinsons , 1896
• I Pescatori di Trepang - The Trepang Fishermen , 1896
• Il Capitano della Djumna - The Captain of the Djumna , 1897
• La Rosa del Dong-Giang - The Rose from Dong-Giang , 1897
• Le Stragi delle Filippine - The Massacre in the Philippines , 1897
• La Città dell'Oro - The City of Gold , 1898
• La Costa d'Avorio - The Ivory Coast , 1898
• Al Polo Nord - To the North Pole , 1898
• Il Corsaro Nero - The Black Corsair ( Corsair 1 ), 1898
• La Capitana dello Yucatan - The captain of the Yucatan , 1899
• I Naviganti della Meloria - The sailors of the Meloria , 1899
• Avventure straordinarie d'un Marinario in Africa , 1899
• Le Caverne dei Diamanti - The Diamond Caves , 1899 (adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's Diamond Mine")
• Il Figlio del Cacciatore d'Orsi - The son of the bear hunter (predatory translation of the novel of the same name by Karl May, published under the pseudonym A. Permini), 1899
• Gli Orrori della Siberia - The Terror of Siberia , 1900
• I Minatori dell'Alaska - The gold diggers in Alaska , 1900
• Le Tigri di Mompracem - The Tigers of Mompracem ( Sandokan 3 ), 1900
• Avventure fra le Pelli-Rosse , 1900
• Gli Scorridori del mare , 1900
• La Stella Polare e il suo viaggio avventuroso - In the submarine to the North Pole , 1901
• La Regina dei Carabi - The Queen of the Caribs ( Corsair 2 ), 1901
• Il Fiore delle Perle - The Flower of Pearls , 1901
• Le stragi della China - Among Chinese rebels , 1901
• La Montagna d'Oro - The Gold Mountains , 1901
• La Montagna di Luce - Der Lichtberg , 1902 (under the title "Diamantenjagd" published by Neues Leben, 1991)
• La Giraffa Bianca - The white giraffe , 1902
• I Predoni del Sahara - The robbers of the Sahara , 1903
• Le Pantere d'Algeri - The Panther of Algeria , 1903
• Sul mare delle perle - On the sea of ​​pearls , 1903
• I figli dell'aria - The Children of the Air , 1904
• L'Uomo di Fuoco - The Man of Fire , 1904
• I solitari dell'oceano - The lonely ones of the ocean , 1904
• La città del Re Lebbroso - The City of the Leper King , 1904
• Le due Tigri - The Two Tigers ( Sandokan 4 ), 1904
• L'Eroina di Port-Arthur - The heroine of Port Arthur , 1904
• La Gemma del Fiume Rosso - The Jewel of the Red River , 1904
• La sovrana del Campo d'Oro - Lady of the Goldfields , 1905
• Jolanda la figlia del Corsaro Nero - Jolanda, the daughter of the Black Corsair ( Corsair 3 ), 1905
• La Perla Sanguinosa - The Blood Red Pearl , 1905
• Capitan Tempesta - Captain Tempesta ( Lion of Damascus 1 ), 1905
• Le figlie dei Faraoni - Daughters of the Pharaohs , 1906
• Il Re del Mare - The King of the Sea ( Sandokan 5 ), 1906
• La Stella dell'Araucania - The Star of the Araucans , 1906
• Alla conquista di un impero - The conquest of an empire ( Sandokan 6 ), 1907
• Il tesoro della Montagna - The Treasure of the Blue Mountains , 1907
• Il Re dell'Aria-The Queen of the Air , 1907
• Le meraviglie del Duemila - The miracles of the two thousand , 1907
• Le Aquile della steppa - The eagles of the steppe , 1907
• Sandokan alla riscossa - Sandokan on the move ( Sandokan 7 ), 1907
• Sull'Atlante - Over the Atlantic , 1908
• Cartagine in fiamme - Carthage in flames , 1908
• Il figlio del Corsaro Rosso - The Son of the Red Corsair ( Corsair 4 ), 1908
• La riconquista del Mompracem - The Recapture of Mompracem ( Sandokan 8 ), 1908
• Gli ultimi filibustieri - The last privateers ( Korsar 5 ), 1908
• Sulle frontiere del Far West - Across the border of the Far West ( Wild West Cycle 1 ), 1908
• La Scotennatrice - The Scalp Huntress ( Wild West Cycle 2 ), 1909
• Una sfida al Polo - A Challenge at the Pole , 1909
• La Bohème Italiana - The Italian Bohème , 1909
• I Corsari delle bermuda - The Corsairs of the Bermuda Islands ( Bermudas 1 ), 1909
• Le Selve Ardenti - The Burning Forests ( Wild West Cycle 3 ), 1910
• Il Leone di Damasco - The Lion of Damascus ( Lion of Damascus 2 ), 1910
• La crociera della Tuonante - The Cruises of the Scorpio ( Bermuda 2 ), 1910
• Il bramino dell'Assam - The Bramane of Assam ( Sandokan 9 ), 1911
• I briganti del Riff - The Reef Brigands , 1911
• La caduta di un impero - The fall of an empire ( Sandokan 10 ), 1911
• La rivincita di Yanez - The Revenge of Yanez ( Sandokan 11 ), 1913
• Straordinarie avventure di Testa di Pietra - The extraordinary adventures of the Testa di Pietra , 1913

Film adaptations

• 1914: Nel paese dell'oro ; Director: unknown, with Alberto Collo
• 1920: Il corsaro nero ; Director: Vitale di Stefano, with Rodolfo Badaloni
• 1920: La regina dei Caraibi ; Director: Vitale di Stefano, with Rodolfo Badaloni
• 1920: Jolanda, la figlia del corsaro nero ; Director: Vitale di Stefano, with Anita Faraboni
• 1921: Gli ultimi flibusteri ; Director: Vitale di Stefano, with Riccardo Tassani
• 1921: Il figlio del corsaro nero ; Director: Vitale di Stefano, with Rodolfo Badaloni
• 1936: Il corsaro nero ; Director: Amleto Palermi, with Ciro Verratti
• 1940: The Corsair's Daughter ( La figlia del corsaro verde ); Direction: Enrico Guazzoni , with Doris Duranti, Fosco Giachetti
• 1941: I Pirati della Malesia ; Direction: Enrico Guazzoni, with Massimo Girotti , Clara Calamai
• 1941: Le due tigri ; Director: Giorgio Simonelli , with Massimo Girotti, Luigi Pavese
• 1942: El Leon de Damasco ; with Carmen Navasqués, Luis Hurtado
• 1942: I cavalieri del deserto ; Directed by Gino Talamo and Osvaldo Valenti, with Primo Carnera , Guido Celano , Luigi Pavese
• 1942: Capitán Tormenta ; Direction: Corrado D'Errico , with Carmen Navasqués, Luis Hurtado, Doris Duranti
• 1943: Il figlio del corsaro rosso ; Director: Marco Elter , with Vittorio Sanipoli , Luisa Ferida
• 1943: Gli ultimi flibustieri ; Director: Marco Elter, with Vittorio Sanipoli, Loredana
• 1944: The black corsair ( El corsario negro ); Director: Chano Urueta, with Pedro Armendáriz , María Luisa Zea
• 1952: I tre corsari ; Director: Mario Soldati , with Ettore Manni , Marc Lawrence
• 1952: Lucrezia, the red corsair ( Jolanda la figlia del corsaro nero ); Directed by Mario Soldati, with May Britt , Marc Lawrence
• 1953: The Temple Stranglers of Bangkok ( I misteri della giungla nera ); Directed by Gian Paolo Callegari and Ralph Murphy, with Lex Barker , Fiorella Mari
• 1953: The Black Devils of Ramangai ( La vendetta dei Thugs ); Directed by Gian Paolo Callegari, with Lex Barker, Paul Muller
• 1953: The Temple Treasure of Bengal (Il tesoro del Bengala)
• 1958: The revenge of the red corsair ( Il figlio del corsaro rosso ); Directed by Primo Zeglio , with Lex Barker, Sylvia Lopez
• 1960: Carthage in flames ( Cartagine in fiamme ); Directed by Carmine Gallone , with Pierre Brasseur , Daniel Gélin , Anne Heywood
• 1960: King of the Buccaneers ( Morgan il pirata ); Directed by André de Toth and Primo Zeglio, with Steve Reeves , Valérie Lagrange
• 1963: Sandokan ( Sandokan, la tigre di Mompracem ); Directed by Umberto Lenzi , with Steve Reeves, Geneviève Grad , Andrea Bosic
• 1963: Pack of the Damned ( I pirati della Malesia ); Director: Umberto Lenzi, with Steve Reeves, Jacqueline Sassard , Andrea Bosic
• 1963: In the Temple of the White Elephant ( Sandok, il Maciste della giungla ); Directed by Umberto Lenzi, with Sean Flynn , Marie Versini
• 1964: The Revenge of Sandokan ( Sandokan alla riscossa ); Directed by Luigi Capuano , with Ray Danton , Guy Madison , Franca Bettoia
• 1964: La montagna di luce ; Director: Umberto Lenzi, with Richard Harrison , Luciana Gilli
• 1964: Sandokan and the Leopard ( Sandokan contro il leopardo di Sarawak ); Directed by Luigi Capuano, with Ray Danton, Guy Madison, Franca Bettoia
• 1964: The secret of the leather loop ( I misteri della giungla nera ); Direction: Luigi Capuano, with Guy Madison, Ingeborg Schöner , Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
• 1965: Adventurer of Tortuga ( L'avventuriero della Tortuga ); Director: Luigi Capuano, with Guy Madison, Ingeborg Schöner
• 1965: Il misterio dell'isola maledetta ; Directed by Piero Pierotti , with Peter Lupus , Halina Zalewska
• 1968: Sandokan, the tiger from Malesia ( I tigri di Mompracem ); Directed by Mario Sequi , with Ivan Rassimov , Claudia Gravy
• 1976: The black corsair ( Il corsaro nero ); Directed by Sergio Sollima , with Kabir Bedi , Carole André , Mel Ferrer
• 1976: Sandokan - The Tiger of Malaysia , TV series
• 1987: The Secret of the Sahara ( Il Segreto del Sahara ) (miniseries); Directed by Alberto Negrin, with Michael York , Andie MacDowell
• 1990: The Secret of the Black Jungle ( I misteri della giungla nera ) (TV); Directed by Kevin Connor , with Stacy Keach , Virna Lisi
• 1996: The Return of Sandokan ( Il ritorno di Sandokan ); Directed by Enzo Girolami , with Kabir Bedi, Mathieu Carrière
• 1998: The white elephant ( L'elefante bianco ); Director: Gianfranco Albano , with Mathieu Carrière, Remo Girone , Axelle Grelet, Vincent Lecoeur, Jennifer Nitsch
• 1998: Il figlio di Sandokan (TV); Director: Sergio Sollima, with Marco Bonini, Kabir Bedi

literature

• Berto Bertù: Salgàri. Ed. Augustea, Rome a. a. 2006.
• Emy Beseghi: La valle della luna. Avventura, esotismo, orientalismo nell'opera di Emilio Salgari. La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1992. (= Educatori antichi e moderni; 496) ISBN 88-221-1107-9
• Silvino Gonzato: Emilio Salgari. Demoni, amori e carry the un "capitano" che navigò solo con la fantasia. Pozza, Vicenza 1995, ISBN 88-7305-493-5
• Titus Heydenreich: Nuestro adoradisimo Salgari ... On the fortune of the "Italian Karl May" in Latin America. In: Festschrift for the 60th birthday of Karl Alfred Blüher. Narr, Tübingen 1987. pp. 392-400.
• Ann Lawson Lucas: La ricerca dell'ignoto. I romanzi d'avventura di Emilio Salgari. Olschki, Firenze 2000. (= Archivum romanicum; Biblioteca; 1; 293) ISBN 88-222-4928-3 .
• Oscar Nalesini, L'Asia Sud-orientale nella cultura italiana. Bibliografia analitica ragionata, 1475-2005 . Roma, Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, 2009, pp. 350–362 ISBN 978-88-6323-284-4 .
• Felice Pozzo: L'officina segreta di Emilio Salgari. 2nd edition Ed. Mercurio, Vercelli 2007, ISBN 88-86960-85-9
• Bruno Traversetti: Introduzione a Salgari. Laterza, Rome a. a. 1989. (= Gli scrittori; 13) ISBN 88-420-3486-X
• Giuseppe Vecchio: I romanzi di Emilio Salgari. Dai comics ai films. Scena Illustrata Ed., Rome 1993.

Web links

Commons : Emilio Salgari  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Emilio Salgari in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by Emilio Salgari in the Gutenberg-DE project
• Collection of works : text, concordances, word lists and statistics (in Italian)
• Emilio Salgari : Life and Work
• Literature by Emilio Salgari : English
• The black corsair : with an edition history
• Le copertine delle prime edizioni salgariane (fino al 1930 circa): prima pagina