- Born:
- October 12, 1896, Genoa, Italy
- Died:
- September 12, 1981, Milan (aged 84)
- Awards And Honors:
- Nobel Prize (1975)
- Notable Works:
- “Ossi di seppia (Cuttlefish Bones)”
- Movement / Style:
- Hermeticism
Eugenio Montale
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Who was Eugenio Montale?
Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor, and translator who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.
As a young man, Montale trained as an opera singer. After serving in World War I, he became further involved in literary activity, co-founding the literary journal Primo tempo in 1922. Later, Montale worked for the publisher Bemporad, directed the Gabinetto Vieusseux Library in Florence, and was a freelance translator and poetry critic for La fiera letteraria. In 1948, he became literary and then music editor for the Corriere della Sera.
His first book of poems, Ossi di seppia (1925; “Cuttlefish Bones”), expressed the bitter pessimism of the postwar period.
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What was Eugenio Montale known for?
Eugenio Montale, born in Genoa, Italy, on October 12, 1896, was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor, and translator. In 1975, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Montale's 1925 book of poems, Ossi di seppia ("Cuttlefish Bones"), showed the bitter pessimism of the post-war period, using the desolate Ligurian coast as symbols. Critics considered Montale a Hermetic poet, along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Salvatore Quasimodo. These poets conveyed experiences through the emotional suggestiveness of words and a symbolism of subjective meaning, influenced by French Symbolists. Montale also translated works by William Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Herman Melville and others into Italian. He died in Milan on September 12, 1981.
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What are some famous works by Eugenio Montale?
Eugenio Montale, born in Genoa, Italy, on October 12, 1896, was a Nobel Prize-winning Italian poet, prose writer, editor, and translator. His notable works include Ossi di seppia (1925; “Cuttlefish Bones”), which captures the bitter pessimism of the post-war era through desolate, rocky Ligurian coast imageries. Other significant works include Le occasioni (1939; “The Occasions”), and Finisterre (1943; “Land’s End”). Montale's later poetry, such as La bufera e altro (1956; The Storm, and Other Poems) displayed increasing skill and personal warmth.
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Which themes did Montale often explore in his poems?
Eugenio Montale's poems often explored themes of bitter pessimism and the tragic vision of a dry, barren, hostile world, inspired by T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. His early works, such as Ossi di seppia (Cuttlefish Bones), used desolate, rocky Ligurian coast symbols to express these feelings.
Critics found his subsequent works, including Le occasioni (The Occasions) and Finisterre (Land’s End), progressively more introverted. Montale's later poems, starting with La bufera e altro (The Storm, and Other Poems), displayed increasing skill and personal warmth, while works like Xenia were gentle love poems.
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How did historical events in Italy influence Montale's writing?
Eugenio Montale's writing was deeply influenced by the historical events of his time, particularly the rise of Fascism in Italy.
As a young man, Montale served in World War I, an experience that instilled in him a "bitter pessimism" that would be expressed in his early works Ossi di seppia (Cuttlefish Bones). The oppressive political climate of the Fascist regime further shaped his poetry, leading him to adopt the style of Hermeticism, characterized by its obscurity and symbolism, as a means to express his pessimism covertly.
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Why did Eugenio Montale win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
Eugenio Montale, born in Genoa, Italy, on October 12, 1896, and died in Milan on September 12, 1981, was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor, and translator. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.
Montale's early works, such as Ossi di seppia (1925; Cuttlefish Bones), showed the postwar period's pessimism through symbols of the desolate Ligurian coast. Critics found his subsequent works, including La casa dei doganieri e altre poesie (1932; The House of the Customs Officer and Other Poems) and Le occasioni (1939; The Occasions), more introverted. His later works, starting with La bufera e altro (1956; The Storm, and Other Poems), displayed increasing skill and personal warmth. Montale is considered one of the most important Italian poets of the 20th century.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Eugenio Montale (born October 12, 1896, Genoa, Italy—died September 12, 1981, Milan) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor, and translator who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.
As a young man, Montale trained as an opera singer. He was drafted to serve in World War I, and, when the war was over, he resumed his music studies. Increasingly he became involved in literary activity. He was cofounder in 1922 of Primo tempo (“First Time”), a literary journal; worked for the publisher Bemporad (1927–28); served as director of the Gabinetto Vieusseux Library in Florence (1929–38); was a freelance translator and poetry critic for La fiera letteraria (1938–48; “The Literary Fair”); and in 1948 became literary editor and later music editor for the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera (“Evening Courier”).
Montale’s first book of poems, Ossi di seppia (1925; “Cuttlefish Bones”), expressed the bitter pessimism of the postwar period. In this book he used the symbols of the desolate and rocky Ligurian coast to express his feelings. A tragic vision of the world as a dry, barren, hostile wilderness not unlike T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land inspired Montale’s best early poems.
The works that followed Ossi di seppia included La casa dei doganieri e altre poesie (1932; “The House of the Customs Officer and Other Poems”), Le occasioni (1939; “The Occasions”), and Finisterre (1943; “Land’s End”), which critics found progressively more introverted and obscure. Montale’s later works, beginning with La bufera e altro (1956; The Storm, and Other Poems), were written with increasing skill and a personal warmth that his earlier works had lacked. His other collections of poems include Satura (1962), Accordi e pastelli (1962; “Harmony and Pastels”), Il colpevole (1966), and Xenia (1966), the last work a gentle and evocative series of love poems in memory of his wife, who died in 1963. Diario del ’71 e del ’72 was published in 1973. Montale published three volumes of collected Poesie in 1948, 1949, and 1957.
Montale was considered in the 1930s and ’40s to be a Hermetic poet. Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Salvatore Quasimodo, he was influenced by French Symbolists such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud, and Paul Valéry and sought to convey experiences through the emotional suggestiveness of words and a symbolism of purely subjective meaning. In his later poetry, however, Montale often expressed his thoughts in more direct and simple language. He won many literary prizes and much critical acclaim. In 1999 a volume of Montale’s work entitled Collected Poems: 1920–1954, translated by Jonathan Galassi, was published; in addition to its English translations it offers helpful annotations, a chronology, and an essay on the poet.
Montale also rendered into Italian the poetry of William Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, and Gerard Manley Hopkins, as well as prose works by Herman Melville, Eugene O’Neill, and other writers. His newspaper stories and sketches were published in La farfalla di Dinard (1956; The Butterfly of Dinard).