born Sept. 27, 1871, Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy
died Aug. 15, 1936, Rome
Italian novelist.
She wrote her first stories, influenced by the verismo ("realism") school, at age 17. In her approximately 40 novels, including After the Divorce (1902), Elias Portolu (1903), and Ashes (1904), the ancient ways of her native Sardinia often conflict with modern mores. Her later novel The Mother (1920) and the posthumously published autobiographical novel Cosima (1937) were widely admired. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926.