SVEVO, ITALO


Meaning of SVEVO, ITALO in English

orig. Ettore Schmitz

born Dec. 19, 1861, Trieste, Austrian Empire

died Sept. 13, 1928, Motta di Livenza, Italy

Italian writer.

Though family financial difficulties forced him to leave school and become a bank clerk, he read on his own and began to write. A Life (1892), revolutionary in its analytical, introspective treatment of an ineffectual hero, was ignored on publication, as was As a Man Grows Older (1898). He gave up writing until, encouraged by James Joyce (then living in Trieste), he produced his most famous novel, Confessions of Zeno (1923), a brilliant work in the form of a patient's statement for his psychiatrist. He died in an auto accident. Two short-story collections, essays, dramatic works, correspondence with Eugenio Montale , and his unfinished Further Confessions of Zeno (1969) were published after his death. He is regarded as a pioneer of the psychological novel.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.