Gianna Manzini
Gianna Manzini (1896-1974) was an influential Italian writer born in Pistoia, Tuscany. She graduated from the University of Florence with a degree in Italian literature and became a significant figure in the modernist literary movement, earning comparisons to Virginia Woolf. Manzini's first novel, "Tempo inamorato" (1928), established her recurring theme of love, characterized by narrative complexity. Her literary contributions extended beyond novels to short story collections, including "Incontro col falco" (1929) and "Boscovivo" (1932).
In addition to her writing, she worked as a fashion editor and columnist, which informed her exploration of feminine themes in her fiction. After moving to Rome in 1933, Manzini continued to publish notable works, including "Lettera all'editore" (1945) and "La sparviera" (1956). She received the prestigious Premio Campiello in 1971 for her novel "Ritratto in piedi." Her final work, "Sulla soglia" (1973), reflected on the theme of death. Manzini's originality and sophistication have left a lasting impact on Italian literature in the twentieth century.
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Gianna Manzini
Writer
- Born: March 24, 1896
- Birthplace: Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy
- Died: August 31, 1974
- Place of death: Rome, Italy
Biography
Gianna Manzini was born on March 24, 1896, in Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy, and died in Rome, on August 31, 1974. She graduated from the University of Florence with a degree in Italian literature and soon became an important part of the literary field herself. In the 1920’s, she began contributing to the Italian journal Solaria, a forum for both European and American authors (she has often been called “the Italian Virginia Woolf”), and to the stylistic and structural experiments in fiction so prevalent in that modernist period. Her first novel, Tempo inamorato (1928; time in love) revealed not only her nearly constant theme of love but also her narrative complexity and freshness. Her next two works were collections of short stories (Incontro col falco, 1929, and Boscovivo, 1932).
In 1929, Manzini married the Italian journalist Bruno Fallaci, but the marriage was short-lived, and in 1933 she moved to Rome, where she would live for the remaining four decades of her life. She spent many years after 1935 as fashion editor of the literary journal La fiera letterararia as well as columnist in that field’s other journals and newspapers. Her interest in fashion paralleled the feminine themes and attention to language found so often in her fiction. In 1945 she became the editor of the international journal Prosa, and in the same year her novel Lettera all’editore (letter to the publisher) was published. She continued to write and publish (for example, La sparviera, 1956) and in 1971 she won the Premio Campiello, one of Italy’s highest literary awards, for the novel Ritratto in piedi.
Her last work, published a year before she died, was Sulla soglia (1973; on the threshold), a collection of four stories centering on the theme of death. Her writing was marked throughout her career by originality and sophistication, and Manzini has been highly influential in Italian letters in the second half of the twentieth century.