Federico De Roberto

Italian author

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June 25, 2026

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Federico De Roberto was an Italian writer associated with the verismo movement, which focused on realism and observable phenomena in literature. He is best known for his novel I vicerè (The Viceroys), published in 1894, which offers a cynical and humorous portrayal of a Sicilian aristocratic family adapting to societal changes. De Roberto, along with other veristi like Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana, paid close attention to regional settings, with Sicily being a prominent backdrop in his work. His writing style contributed to the broader realist literary trends in Italy during the late 19th century.1

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Italian literature
The veristi and other narrative writers
Another verista, Federico De Roberto, in his novel I vicerè (1894; The Viceroys), has given a cynical and wryly funny account of an aristocratic Sicilian family that adapted all too well to change. Capuana, the founder of verismo and most rigorous adherent to its impersonal method of…
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Another verista, Federico De Roberto, in his novel I vicerè (1894; The Viceroys), has given a cynical and wryly funny account of an aristocratic Sicilian family that adapted all too well to change. Capuana, the founder of verismo and most rigorous adherent to its impersonal method of…
Read More