born Aug. 20, 1901, Modica, Italy
died June 14, 1968, Naples
Italian poet, critic, and translator.
He spent 10 years as an engineer for the Italian government while writing poetry in his spare time. He gradually became a leader of Hermeticism after the publication of his first poetry collection, Waters and Land (1930). After World War II his social convictions shaped his work, beginning with Day After Day (1947). He published an astonishing range of translations, edited anthologies, and wrote essays, including those in The Poet and the Politician (1960). He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1959.