Bagutta Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 53 (1989) Winner
Luigi Meneghello
ルイジ・メネゲッロ
Ruiji Meneggero
Pen Names:
Ugo Varnai（Pseudonym used for translation work and some publications）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1922-02-16 （Malo, Italy）
- Died
- 2007-06-26 （Thiene, Italy） age 85
- Nationality
- Italian
- Languages
- Italian, English
- Residence History
- Malo (birthplace) → Reading, England → London, England → Thiene, Italy
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, essayist, academic, translator
- Active Years
- 1963-2004
- Affiliations
- University of Reading
- Influenced By
- Benedetto Croce, English culture (literature and language)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Padua | Faculty of Philosophy | Department of Philosophy | Laurea (cum laude) | 1939–1945 | Italy |
| University of Reading | Department of Italian Studies | Italian Studies | — | 1947–1980 | United Kingdom |
University of Padua
Faculty of Philosophy
/ Department of Philosophy
Degree:
Laurea (cum laude)
Period:
1939–1945
Year of Graduation:
1945
Country:
Italy
Graduated cum laude with a thesis on Benedetto Croce
University of Reading
Department of Italian Studies
/ Italian Studies
Period:
1947–1980
Country:
United Kingdom
Moved to the UK in 1947 to teach aspects of Italian literature and Renaissance; headed the Department of Italian Studies from its foundation until retirement in 1980
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Libera nos a Malo
1963 memoir/novel (hybrid of fiction and autobiography)A portrait of his hometown Malo, blending novel and autobiography. The title is a pun on the Latin 'deliver us from evil' and the town name Malo. Themes include childhood, local language and customs.
hometownlanguage and dialectmemory
Translations
- English translation: Deliver Us (translated by Frederika Randall, Northwestern University Press, 2011)
I piccoli maestri
1964 memoir; account of the ResistanceA memoir recounting experiences in the Italian Resistance during WWII. Praised for its unadorned and authentic account, considered an important testimony of the Resistance.
Italian Resistancewartime education and camaraderiemorality and coming of age
Adaptations
- [film] I piccoli maestri / Daniele Luchetti (1998)
Translations
- English translation: The Outlaws (translated by Raleigh Trevelyan, 1967)
Bibliography
- Libera nos a Malo (1963) — Deliver Us (English translation 2011)
- I piccoli maestri (1964) — The Outlaws (English translation 1967)
- Pomo Pero (1974)
- Fiori italiani (1976)
- L’acqua di Malo (1986)
- Il Tremaio (1986) — Notes on interaction between language and dialect in literary writing
- Jura (1987)
- Bau-Sète! (1988)
- Leda e la schioppa (1989)
- Rivarotta (1989)
- Che fate quel giovane? (1990)
- Maredè, Maredè (1991)
- Il dispatrio (1993)
- Promemoria (1994)
- Il Turbo e il Chiaro (1996)
- La materia di Reading (1997)
- Le Carte. Volume I: 1960s (1999)
- Le Carte. Volume II: 1970s (2000)
- Le Carte. Volume III: 1980s (2001)
- Trapianti: From English to Vicentine (2002)
- Quaggiù nella biosfera (2004)
- La materia di Reading and Other Finds (2005)
Adaptations
- I piccoli maestri — film adaptation directed by Daniele Luchetti (1998)
Translations of Works
- I piccoli maestri → The Outlaws (English translation, 1967)
- Libera nos a Malo → Deliver Us (English translation, 2011)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- a hybrid of autobiographical narration and essayistic reflectionstyle emphasizing interplay between standard Italian and dialect
- Recurring Motifs
- landscape and community of the hometownmemory and reconstruction of the pastlanguage and dialectal tensionResistance movement and civic conscience
Legacy
Meneghello contributed to Italian literary studies through his distinctive portrayals of provincial life and long academic career in the English-speaking world. In particular, I piccoli maestri is regarded as an important testimony of the Italian Resistance and has had wide influence through scholarship and film adaptation.
Museums
- Villa Clementi (cultural institution related to Meneghello) Malo (Comune di Malo)
Archives
- Comune di Malo: chronology and documents on Meneghello
- University of Reading: Department of Italian Studies archives
In Popular Culture
- Film adaptation of I piccoli maestri (1998)
Quotes
-
My studies, at Vicenza and Padua, were absurdly 'brilliant', but useless and partly damaging. I was exposed, as a youth, to the effects of a fascist education, and then somehow was re-educated during the war and the civil war, under the protective wings of the Partito d'Azione (Party of Action). I expatriated in 1947-48 and settled in England with my wife Katia. We have no children. My encounter with the culture of the English, and the shock of their language, were for me a determining factor.
Source: The Guardian (obituary), 17 August 2007 (words of Luigi Meneghello) (2007)
Trivia
- Used the pseudonym 'Ugo Varnai' for some translation work.
- His wife Katia Bleier was an Auschwitz survivor; the couple had no children (per Meneghello's own words).
- Played a central role in founding and running the Department of Italian Studies at the University of Reading.