Leonardo Sciascia
Leonardo Sciascia, (b. Jan.
8, 1921, Racalmuto, near Agrigento, Italy—d. Nov. 20, 1989,
Palermo), Italian writer noted for his metaphysical
examinations of political corruption and arbitrary power.
Sciascia studied at the
Magistrale Institute in Caltanissetta. He held either
clerical or teaching positions for much of his career,
retiring to write full-time in 1968. His political career
began in 1976, when he was a Communist Party member in the
Palermo city council. Later Sciascia served as a member of
the Radical Party in the Italian Parliament; he was elected
to the European Parliament in 1979.
Sciascia’s first published
work was Favole della dittatura (1950; “Fables of the
Dictatorship”), a satire on fascism. He also wrote two early
collections of poetry. His first significant novel, Le
parrocchie di Regalpetra (1956; Salt in the Wound),
chronicles the history of a small Sicilian town and the
effect of politics on the lives of the townspeople. He
further examined what he termed sicilitudine
(“Sicilian-ness”) in the four stories of Gli zii di Sicilia
(1958; Sicilian Uncles). Although Sicilian life and
attitudes remained the chief subject of his writing,
Sciascia did not discover his favourite vehicle, the mystery
novel, until the publication in 1961 of Il giorno della
civetta (“The Day of the Owl,” first Eng. trans. Mafia
Vendetta), a study of the Mafia. Other mystery novels
followed, among them A ciascuno il suo (1966; A Man’s
Blessing), Il contesto (1971; Equal Danger), and Todo modo
(1974; One Way or Another). Sciascia also wrote historical
analyses, plays, short stories, and essays on Sicily and
other subjects, and he edited a series of rare and
unpublished works by Sicilian writers for the Sellario
publishing house.
