Corrado Alvaro
Corrado Alvaro was an influential Italian writer born on April 15, 1895 or 1896 in San Luca, Calabria. Growing up in a region marked by economic hardship, Alvaro's experiences of poverty and his father's educational influence significantly shaped his literary voice. He served in World War I, and upon returning, he completed his education and began publishing his work in 1917. Over a prolific career spanning three decades, Alvaro wrote across various genres, including essays, poetry, fiction, and cultural studies, earning notable recognition for his novel "Gente in Aspromonte" (1962).
His literature often explores themes of alienation and disenfranchisement, reflecting the struggles of individuals separated from their roots and cultural identities. Works like "L'uomo nel labirinto" illustrate characters lost in unfamiliar environments, while "Revolt in Aspromonte" critiques social injustices faced by peasants. Alvaro was politically engaged, opposing the Fascist regime, which led to periods of hiding during World War II. He continued to produce significant works until his death on June 11, 1956, leaving behind a legacy that interrogates the human condition amidst societal and political turmoil.
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Subject Terms
Corrado Alvaro
Author
- Born: April 15, 1895
- Birthplace: San Luca, Italy
- Died: June 11, 1956
- Place of death: Rome, Italy
Biography
Corrado Alvaro was born in San Luca, in the mountainous district of Calabria in southern Italy, on April 15 of 1895 or 1896. He was the first-born son of Antonio and Antonia Alvaro. Although his father was a landowner and somewhat educated (he served as a schoolteacher for the local peasants), the region suffered from severe economic depression. Some have claimed that the poverty and deprivation of young Corrado’s life greatly informed his later writings. It also seems that the influence of his father, who he immortalized in his biographical essay “Memoria e vita” (memory of life) had a profound impact on his life and work. Despite economic hardships, Alvaro’s father found a way to send him to private elementary schools. Alvaro enlisted in the Italian army during World War I, interrupting his education, but wounds to his arms caused his discharge and he completed high school in 1920. Alvaro later attended universities in Rome and Milan but had already begun publishing articles and poetry as early as 1917. By 1921 he had numerous literary productions to his credit. In the same year he married Laura Babini and produced a son, Massimo.
Alvaro was a prolific writer, with a career spanning over thirty years and many genres, including essays (travel and critical), poetry, fiction (novels and novellas), nonfiction (cultural studies and memoirs), and numerous translations. He garnered literary awards, most notably for Gente in Aspromonte (Revolt in Aspromonte, 1962), considered his most representative and greatest work of fiction. He was also awarded the Italian Academy Prize for his body of work. Alvaro’s central themes focus on the politically and metaphorically disenfranchised individual who is separated from his small town or region (and hence from his familiar surroundings, his culture, and ultimately himself). His heroes have been likened to the alienated individuals in an existential universe. In L’uomo nel labirinto, Alvaro’s 1926 novella, the protagonist leaves home and becomes stranded as if in a maze in an unknown city, surrounded by strangers and incongruities. In Revolt in Aspromonte, two brothers battle a horribly inequitable social structure in which peasants are tormented by aristocrats. Alvaro’s short stories of the 1920’s and 1930’s deal with rural, village societies and the conflicts that not only poverty creates but the problems with repressive government policies. In L’uomo é forte, a totalitarian government attempts to erase cultural memory and eliminate freedom of expression, and does so by using a “big brother” type of surveillance. This novel was considered a possible covert criticism of the current events in Italy and, along with Alvaro’s political stance (he refused membership in the Fascist Party and supported the Italian Resistance) caused the writer to go into hiding and at one point, to flee Rome (in 1943). Near the end of his life (he died on June 11, 1956), he was producing complex and lengthy works such as the uncompleted trilogy Memorie del mondo sommerso (memories of the drowned world) and Belmoro The latter depicts a dystopian, repressive society, while the trilogy repeats the pattern of displaced characters who experience both emotional and physical alienation.