Giani Stuparich, a writer torn between his passion for literature and his political and civic commitment

Abstract

Giani Stuparich was born in Trieste on 4 April 1891 to an Istrian father and a Jewish mother from Trieste. He studied in Prague and then in Florence, graduating in literature in 1915, and became involved in the cultural world of the magazine La Voce. At the outbreak of the First World War, he enlisted as a volunteer with his brother Carlo in the 1st Regiment of Grenadiers of Sardinia, was wounded, taken prisoner and decorated with the gold medal for military valour. After the war, he began a prolific writing career, publishing diaries and memoirs such as Guerra del '15 (War of '15) and Colloqui con mio fratello (Conversations with my brother), short stories and novels, including his masterpiece L’isola (The Island), and essays and poems in the years to come. During the Fascist period, he refused to belong to the regime and, after 8 September 1943, he was persecuted: in 1944, he was arrested with his mother and wife and interned in the Risiera di San Sabba, from where he was released thanks to the intervention of local authorities. After the war, he worked as a journalist and defender of the fate of his homeland, Venezia Giulia, founding, among other things, the Circolo della Cultura e delle Arti (Culture and Arts Club) in Trieste. He died in Rome on 7 April 1961, leaving behind a vast literary output that bears witness to the fragility of identity, memory and the tragedies of his time.