Amelia Rosselli
Amelia Rosselli was an Italian poet and writer born in Paris in 1930, into a politically active family; her father, Carlo Rosselli, was a noted antifascist who was assassinated in 1937 under Mussolini’s orders. This tragic event significantly influenced Rosselli's development as a poet and musician. Growing up in various countries, including the United States, England, Switzerland, and Italy, she became fluent in three languages, yet struggled with her national identity. After completing her studies in music in England, she lived independently in Italy, where she worked as a translator and immersed herself in Italian literature. Rosselli's poetry is distinguished by its musicality and exploration of psychological themes, with notable works including "Libellula" and the acclaimed collection "Serie ospedaliera," which was inspired by a serious illness she experienced. Her literary contributions earned her the Pasolini Prize for poetry in 1981. Rosselli's life came to a tragic end when she died by suicide in 1996, leaving behind a complex and evocative body of work.
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Subject Terms
Amelia Rosselli
Poet
- Born: 1930
- Birthplace: Paris, France
- Died: February 11, 1996
- Place of death: Rome, Italy
Biography
Amelia Rosselli was born in Paris in 1930. Her mother was English and her father was Carlo Rosselli, an Italian antifascist. Her father’s political commitment and his death by assassination (carried out in 1937 by the orders of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini) became important forces in shaping Rosselli’s career in poetry as well as music. Another force was her multinational upbringing, which left her fluent in three languages but without a strong sense of her own national identity.
After her father’s death, her family (including her mother, grandmother, and the widow of her uncle Nello Rosselli, who also had been assassinated by Mussolini) lived in the United States, England, and Switzerland before finally settling in Italy in 1946. There Rosselli searched for copies of her father’s writings in an effort to fill the void created by his death. She left Italy as a teenager to study music in England. When she was eighteen, her mother died. Left essentially on her own, Rosselli took a job as a translator at a publishing house in Rome. During those early years she met a cousin of her father’s who directed her study of Italian writers while she continued to study music. In 1950, she met Italian poet Rocco Scotellaro and he became another formative influence in her life and poetry.
At the same time, her interest in writing was growing. In 1958 she published a poem, “Libellula,” which exhibited her interest in combining techniques of music and verse, a frequently noted characteristic of her writing. Another is her effort to probe the nature of the psyche and the subconscious. Her collection Serie ospedaliera was published in 1969. The poems in this collection were the product of a serious illness and are often seen as her most accomplished writing. In 1980, she published a collection of her early writings; in 1981, she published a long poem, Impromptu, which was influenced by the sound patterns of the Italian poet Dante. She won the Pasolini Prize for poetry in the same year. Rosselli died in 1996.