Massimo Bontempelli
Massimo Bontempelli (1878-1960) was an influential Italian writer and playwright known for his pioneering contributions to the literary style of magic realism. Born in Como, Italy, he pursued philosophy and literature at the University of Turin, later becoming a prominent literary figure in the early 20th century. Bontempelli's works often blended fantasy and myth, as exemplified in his notable play "La guardia alla luna," which explored themes of grief and Romanticism through a grieving mother's quest against the moon. Throughout his career, he engaged with the Futurism movement, utilizing humor and irony in his influential texts such as "La vita intensa" and "La scacchiera davanti allo specchio."
Bontempelli was also a notable editor and literary critic, founding the journal Novecento, which advocated for magic realism and showcased various experimental writers. His political involvement included a brief membership in the Fascist party, though he later distanced himself due to conflicting beliefs about the role of art. Despite facing political challenges post-World War II, including the revocation of his senatorial election due to his past affiliations, Bontempelli remained committed to social issues in his writings. He received several accolades, including Italy's prestigious Strega Prize, solidifying his legacy as a significant figure in Italian literature.
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Massimo Bontempelli
Poet
- Born: May 12, 1878
- Birthplace: Como, Italy
- Died: July 21, 1960
- Place of death: Rome, Italy
Biography
Massimo Bontempelli was born in Como, Italy, on May 12, 1878, to Alfonso Bontempelli, a railway engineer, and Maria Cislaghi Bontempelli. He changed schools often as a child but, in 1897, settled at the University of Turin, where he took degrees in philosophy and literature and began writing stories and poems.
In 1909, Bontempelli married Amelia Della Pergola (called Meletta). After a daughter died in infancy, the couple moved to Florence, where in 1911 a son, Massimo (called Mino), was born. In 1915 the family moved to Milan. In 1929, Bontempelli began living with writer Paola Masino, a relationship that lasted until his death in Rome in 1960.
During World War I, Bontempelli became an army officer and published a trench journal, Il Montello, from the front. He became interested in Futurism, an anti-Romanticism literary movement, and after the war published two influential books, La vita intensa and La vita operosa, which used humor and irony to highlight Futurist aesthetics. In 1920, his play La guardia alla luna (opened in Milan to an unsympathetic audience. In this unconventional play, Bontempelli experimented with fantasy and myth to tell the story of a grieving mother who, after her infant daughter dies, sets out to kill the moon (a symbol of Romanticism), believing the moon responsible.
In the early 1920’s, Bontempelli wrote an experimental play, Siepe a nordovest, for puppets and actors, which somewhat departed from Futurism. Most noteworthy in this period is his novel La scacchiera davanti allo specchio, dedicated to Mino, which marks the beginning of a style he called realismo magico (magic realism). In this story, a boy can enter a mirror and meet anyone whose reflection has ever been caught there.
In 1924, Bontempelli and his friend, noted author Luigi Pirandello, joined the Fascist party, and he wrote a surreal musical comedy, Nostra Dea, about a woman who changes personality depending on her clothing. In 1926, he started the literary journal Novecento (900), which promoted magic realism, Italian literature, experimental writers such as Virginia Woolf, André Malreaux, James Joyce, and Louis Aragon, and although he was uneasy with Fascism’s view of art as political tool Fascist ideals. Melleta Bontempelli contributed to 900, as did a new young writer, Paola Masino, for whom Bontempelli eventually left Melleta.
During the 1930’s, Bontempelli was tossed out of the Fascist party for speaking out against Fascist ideas about art, violence, and unquestioning obedience. After World War II and Fascism’s defeat, he was elected a Popular Front senator, but his election was revoked because he had once written a Fascist textbook. Bontempelli was devastated because he had written fervently against Fascism since 1936. During the 1940’s, his last full writing decade, his works increasingly addressed social issues. He collected his essays criticizing Fascism in Dignità dell-uomo.
Bontempelli won two medals for valor and three war crosses, was inducted into Academia d’Italia, and received Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the Strega Prize, for his collection of stories L’amante fidele.
Bontempelli is remembered as the founder of the literary style magical realism and for the short-lived but influential journal 900. He held strong views on the role of art in society, including his belief that a writer should invent myths which will become part of the culture.