Virgilio Giotti
Virgilio Giotti, born Virgilio Schönbeck in 1885 in Trieste, Italy, was a poet and painter who adopted his mother's surname to emphasize his Italian heritage. He initially gained recognition through his translations of works by Dante Alighieri and Giacomo Leopardi, though he did not produce surviving original poetry until later. After moving to Florence in 1907, Giotti developed his painting skills and began composing poetry in the Triestine dialect. His notable collection, *Piccolo canzoniere in dialetto triestino*, was published in 1914. Giotti's work often reflects the life and landscape of Trieste, presenting a lyrical diary filled with vibrant imagery and emotional depth, particularly in collections from the 1920s and 1930s. His poetry also delves into themes of life's tribulations, most poignantly in *Sera* (1948), which expresses hope through the connection to his granddaughter, Rima. Giotti's contributions to dialect poetry have marked him as a significant figure in Italian literature, illustrating the beauty and complexity of regional languages. He passed away in 1957 in Trieste, leaving behind a legacy that highlights the importance of dialect in the poetic tradition.
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Virgilio Giotti
- Born: January 15, 1885
- Birthplace: Trieste, Italy
- Died: September 21, 1957
- Place of death: Trieste, Italy
Biography
Virgilio Giotti is the pseudonym of Virgilio Schönbeck, who was born in 1885 in Trieste, Italy; he changed his name to Giotti (his mother’s name was Emilia Ghiotto) in order to emphasize his Italian origins. While in Trieste, Giotti translated a sonnet by Dante Alighieri and a canzone by Giacomo Leopardi, but he seems to have written no surviving original poems. In 1907 Giotti moved to Florence, Tuscany. While in Tuscany, he became a sales representative and devoted himself to painting. He showed considerable talent as a painter, and his appreciation of color frequently shows up in his later poetry. While living in Tuscany, Giotti suddenly began writing his own poetry in Trieste’s native dialect; in 1914 he published a collection entitled Piccolo canzoniere in dialetto triestino. In 1920, after the end of World War I, he returned to Trieste.
One critic wrote of Giotti that he “does not fear the simplicity of subject matter,” and this certainly became evident in the collections brought out in the 1920’s and 1930’s, in which Trieste is the primary subject. Giotti’s poems form a sort of lyric diary of his daily sights and encounters, filled with light and color. The last revision of his collection Colori is an expanded edition of all of Giotti’s poems in the Triestine dialect. However, Giotti’s poems also reflect on the tragedies of life. This tendency is especially evident in the collection Sera (1948), where Giotti’s remaining hope for life is expressed through the poetic presence of his granddaughter, Rima. Giotti died in Trieste in 1957.
In today’s world, Italy possesses a standard version of the Italian language. However, some dialect poets have succeeded in capturing the languages of regions with dialects markedly different from that of Tuscan Italian. Giotti was one of the most significant of these poets, and he succeeded in becoming not only a fine regional poet but a fine Italian poet. As he himself stated, “Dialect is the language of poetry.”