Antonio Delfini
Antonio Delfini was an Italian author born on June 10, 1907, in Modena, Italy, into a family of landowners with a historical legacy linked to the 1831 Modena uprising. Following the death of his father during his infancy, Delfini's family retained their independence through property ownership, which allowed him to pursue self-directed education instead of formal schooling. He formed a significant friendship with Ugo Guandalini, which led to the establishment of two literary reviews that favored nationalist and regionalist themes over broader European literary influences. Delfini often drew inspiration from his own life experiences, particularly in his writings set in the fictionalized town of "M***," reflective of his hometown. A pivotal trip to Paris in 1932 introduced him to the Surrealist movement, prompting him to explore automatic writing, which significantly shaped his literary output. Although he spent much of his later life in Florence, contributing to its vibrant literary scene, Delfini struggled with completing many of his creative projects. His poetry gained broader recognition posthumously, earning him the Viareggio Prize in 1963, six months after his death.
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Subject Terms
Antonio Delfini
Writer
- Born: June 10, 1907
- Birthplace: Modena, Italy
- Died: February 23, 1963
Biography
Antonio Delfini was born in Modena, Italy, on June 10, 1907, into a family of landowners that counted among its ancestors some revolutionaries who took part in the 1831 Modena uprising. Delfini’s father died while the future author was still an infant, but the family was able to maintain its independence due to its property holdings. Delfini did not attend school, and was largely self-taught.
As a young man, he became friendly with Ugo Guandalini, who later ran a Parma publishing house, and this friendship played an important role in Delfini’s life. The two friends cofounded two short-lived literary reviews that emphasized nationalist and regionalist styles of writing as opposed to European literary styles. Delfini often emphasized the regional in his own writing. Many of his stories are set in an idealized town of “M***,” a locale that he based loosely on his hometown of Modena. He often wrote from his own conflicts and paradoxes, thus infusing his writings with an autobiographical slant.
In 1932, Delfini traveled with his friend Mario Pannunzio to Paris. This trip was influential, as he became fascinated by the Surrealist movement that was popular at that time. He began to experiment with automatic writing, a technique that requires the writer to record all associations that come to mind without censoring or revising the stream of consciousness discourse. Many of these automatic writings were published as works of fiction.
After 1935, Delfini lived mainly in Florence, engaging in that city’s lively literary circles of the mid-1930’s. He worked as an editor and/or founder of several of literary reviews. In 1961, a major collection of his poetry was published, but one of the central problems of Delfini’s life was his habit of leaving creative projects unfinished. However, due to his family’s inherited wealth, he was not obliged to actually make a living from his writing. He died in February of 1963, and was awarded the Viareggio Prize six months after his death.