The Modern Novel

Biography

Ignazio Silone was born in Pescina in 1900 as Secondino Tranquilli. His father was a small farmer, who had immigrated to Italy from Brazil. His father died in 1911. In 1915 an earthquake hit the nearby town of Avezzano, killing thirty thousand people, including five thousand in Pescina. Many of his family members, including his mother, were among the victims. Silone and his younger brother were looked after by his maternal grandmother. While he was away at school, he did manage to return to Pescina, where he became involved in political activity and was even fined for taking part in political activity. He became very involved with the Italian Socialist Party and when a breakaway Communist Party was formed, Silone became one of the founder members. He attended the Third International in Moscow, where he met Lenin. In Italy he was active in the fight against Fascism and was arrested. After his release from prison he went to Berlin and then travelled around Europe on behalf of the Party.

In 1928 his brother, who was also a member of the Party, was arrested and was eventually beaten to death by the Fascists. When the Party moved to Switzerland Silone moved there as well but was expelled from the Party in 1930 when he took an anti-Stalin position. He became ill, both from tuberculosis and depression. After his release from hospital, he started writing Fontamara (Fontamara). He continued to write, while living in Zurich and Paris, till after the end of the war, with many of his works being published in German translation before being published in Italian and many of them only being published in Italy well after the end of the war. While writing he was also working for anti-Fascist organisations, so much so that the Italian government asked for his extradition. The Swiss at first refused and then arrested him but he was allowed to stay in Switzerland till the end of the war. He also met and later married Darina Laracy, an Irish journalist. He returned to Italy after the end of the war where he became a parliamentary deputy for the Socialist Party. He died in 1968. After his death, some researchers found some evidence that he worked as a spy for the Fascist regime, though this evidence is disputed by others.

Other links

Ignazio Silone
Ignazio Silone (in Italian)
Ignazio Silone (in Italian)
Ignazio Silone (in Italian)
Ignazio Silone Web (in Italian)