Leonardo Sciascia

Leonardo Sciascia was born in Racamulto, Sicily, on 8 January 1921. He spent the first years of his life in that same village and from a very early age developped a passion for history, wrting and reading. In 1935, the family moved to Caltanissetta, where he enroled on a teacher training course. He received his primary school diploma in 1941 but took up a position working as a harvester, which gave him an insight into Sicilian rural life, characterized by poverty and hardmanship. In 1944 he got married to Maria Andronico, also a teacher, with whom he had 2 daughters. In 1949, as well as becoming a teacher in the village's primary school, he founded the review "La Galleria", which he will work on until his death. From the early 1950's he started to publish texts about fascism, the mafia and his idea of "sicilianity", and he also collaborated to some newspapers and literary reviews. At the end of the 1960's he moved to Palermo. He started working for the "Corriere della Sera" in 1969 and for "La Stampa" in 1972. In 1975 he was a candidate in the local elections as an independent on the Communist Party's list. He was elected but resigned in 1977. In 1979, he accepted the offer of the radical party and was candidate on their list to the European Parliament. He was once again elected but resigned in 1983. The last years of his life were marked by illness, forcing him to travel to Milan regularly. However, he carried on writing and keeping an eye on the problems afflicting Italy. He died in Palermo on 20 November 1989. <<