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Maria Corti

マリア・コルティ

Maria Corti

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1915-09-07 （Milan, Italy）
Died
2002-02-22 （Milan, Italy） age 86
Nationality
Italian
Languages
Italian, Latin
Religion
Roman Catholic
Residence History
Milan → Pavia → Lecce → Como → Brescia → Apulia (Salento)

Career

Occupations
philologist, literary critic, novelist, educator
Active Years
1936-2002
Affiliations
University of Pavia, University of Lecce, Alessandro Volta liceo (teacher), Cesare Beccaria liceo (teacher)
Influenced By
Benvenuto Terracini, Antonio Banfi, Cesare Segre
Influenced
Later scholars of the Pavia school

Education

University of Milan
Faculty of Literature / Medieval Latin
Degree: Laurea
Period: 1933-1936
Year of Graduation: 1936
Country: Italy
Thesis on medieval Latin supervised by Benvenuto Terracini.
University of Milan
Faculty of Philosophy / Philosophy
Degree: Laurea
Country: Italy
Thesis on African Spir supervised by Antonio Banfi.

Awards

Premio Campiello
Work: entire body of work
Organization: Fondazione Il Campiello
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

L'ora di tutti

1962 historical novel

A historical novel set in Otranto; Corti's first major fiction work.

historymemorylocality

Voci del nord-est: Taccuino americano

1986 memoir-like essays / literary notebook

A notebook of her American impressions, with strong autobiographical elements.

autobiographytravelcultural observation

Il canto delle sirene

1989 novel

A late novel with autobiographical elements, marked by interplay of memory and narrative.

memorywomen's lifeliterature and self

Princìpi della comunicazione letteraria

1976 philology / semiotics

A major critical work on literary semiotics and communication; published in English translation.

semioticsliterary theorytextual studies
Translations
  • An Introduction to Literary Semiotics (English translation)

Bibliography

  • Studi sulla latinità merovingia in testi agiografici minori (1939)
  • Studi sulla sintassi della lingua poetica avanti lo Stilnovo (1953)
  • Metodi e fantasmi (1969)
  • Princìpi della comunicazione letteraria (1976)
  • L'ora di tutti (1962)
  • Cantare nel buio (1981)
  • Voci del nord-est: Taccuino americano (1986)
  • Il canto delle sirene (1989)
  • Catasto magico (1999)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
scholarly and precise styleblend of critical perspective and autobiographical narrationattention to textual detail
Recurring Motifs
memory and recollectionDante and medieval literaturelanguage and textual lineagearchives and manuscripts

Health

  • respiratory failure
    2002
    Died of respiratory failure in February 2002. Continued writing and research until shortly before death.

Legacy

Maria Corti was one of the leading philologists and literary scholars in postwar Italy and a central figure of the Pavia school. She founded the Fondo Manoscritti di Autori Moderni e Contemporanei at the University of Pavia, significantly contributing to archive-based research and literary criticism. Her fiction is noted for blending scholarly insight with autobiographical elements.

Academic Societies

  • Accademia della Crusca
  • Accademia dei Lincei

Archives

  • Fondo Manoscritti di Autori Moderni e Contemporanei (University of Pavia)

Trivia

  • She never married.
  • Founded the Fondo Manoscritti at the University of Pavia to preserve manuscripts of modern and contemporary authors.
  • Early career constrained by laws that limited women's access to university teaching; worked as a secondary-school teacher for many years.
  • Funeral was attended by notable scholars including Umberto Eco.