Antonio Fogazzaro

Antonio Fogazzaro (Vicenza, 1842-1911), scrittore e poeta, dal 1901 al 1911 fu pi volte tra i candidati al premio Nobel per la letteratura. Fu grande interprete delle tensioni fra dovere e passione che attraversavano la societ italiana cattolica. Fra le sue opere spiccano, oltre a Malombra, i romanzi Piccolo mondo antico, Piccolo mondo moderno, Il Santo e Leila, annoverabili fra gli esempi migliori del romanticismo italiano. Feltrinelli ha pubblicato nei "Classici" Malombra (2011)

THE YEAR 1866 was marked by a bizarre development, an unexplained and downright inexplicable phenomenon that surely no one has forgotten. Without getting into those rumors that upset civilians in the seaports and deranged the public mind even far inland, it must be said that professional seamen were especially alarmed. Traders, shipowners, captains of vessels, skippers, and master mariners from Europe and America, naval officers from every country, and at their heels the various national governments on these two continents, were all extremely disturbed by the business. In essence, over a period of time several ships had encountered "an enormous thing" at sea, a long spindle-shaped object, sometimes giving off a phosphorescent glow, infinitely bigger and faster than any whale.

The aim of this volume is to set down a few recollections connected with various periods of my life. It is equally intended for those interested in my music and in myself. Rather, therefore, than a biography it will be a simple account of important events side by side with facts of minor consequence: both, however, have a certain significance for me, and I wish to relate them according to the dictates of my memory. Naturally I shall not be able to keep within the bounds of bare statement. As I call my recollections to mind, I shall necessarily be obliged to speak of my opinions, my tastes, my preferences, and my abhorrences. I am but too well aware of how much these feelings vary in the course of time. This is why I shall take great care not to confuse my present reactions with those experienced at other stages in my life. There are still further reasons which induce me to write this book. In numerous interviews I have given, my thoughts, my words, and even facts have often been disfigured to the extent of becoming absolutely unrecognizable. I therefore undertake this task today in order to present to the reader a true picture of myself, and to dissipate the accumulation of misunderstandings that has gathered about both my work and my person.

This lurking malice steadily increased, inveterate as the incurable weariness in their muscles. They were born with this disease of the soul inherited from their fathers. Like a black shadow it accompanied them to their graves, spurring on their lives to crime, hideous in its aimless cruelty and brutality. On holidays the young people came home late at night, dirty and dusty, their clothes torn, their faces bruised, boasting maliciously of the blows they had struck their companions, or the insults they had inflicted upon them; enraged or in tears over the indignities they themselves had suffered; drunken and piteous, unfortunate and repulsive. Sometimes the boys would be brought home by the mother or the father, who had picked them up in the street or in a tavern, drunk to insensibility.

And which of the gods was it that set them on to quarrel? It was the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry with the king and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague the people, because the son of Atreus had dishonoured Chryses his priest. Now Chryses had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the sceptre of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant's wreath and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs. "Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and all other Achaeans, may the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to reach your homes in safety; but free my daughter, and accept a ransom for her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Jove." On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. "Old man," said he, "let me not find you tarrying about our ships, nor yet coming hereafter. Your sceptre of the god and your wreath shall profit you nothing. I will not free her. She shall grow old in my house at Argos far from her own home, busying herself with her loom and visiting my couch; so go, and do not provoke me or it shall be the worse for you.

I am most respectfully, Herr Professor, (Et cetera.) Letter from Fraulein Lise Grauer, nurse, in the city of Bludenz, to Professor Aigen at Brunn University. Most respected Herr Professor: I write this at the request of the Herr Former Police Inspector Grieg, to whom you directed a letter shortly before his death. The Herr Former Police Inspector had been ill for some time. I was his nurse. I had cared for him for months and did many small services for him, such as writing letters at his direction. When your letter came he read it and went into a black mood of deep and bitter recollection. He would not speak for hours, and I had great difficulty in getting him to take his medicines. Just before his bedtime he called me and said sardonically; "Lise, write to this Herr Professor for me. Say to him that I was once a decent man. When The Leader took power, I received orders that I would not accept. I submitted my resignation. Then I received orders to come to The Leader. I obeyed these orders because my resignation was not yet accepted. I was received in his office.

Malombra il primo romanzo scritto da Antonio Fogazzaro intrapreso nei primi anni del '70, terminato in bella copia autografa il 22 dicembre 1880 e pubblicato a Milano da Brigola nel 1881. Il romanzo ambientato nel 1864 in un luogo non ben precisato. L'autore lo indica con una semplice lettera puntata: R. Si sa che sulle rive di un lago lombardo, presumibilmente il piccolo lago del Segrino, tra Como e Lecco.

Si conosce con esattezza il periodo di composizione del successivo romanzo, il Daniele Cortis, indicato dallo stesso scrittore: iniziato il 30 maggio 1881, fu compiuto l'11 marzo 1884. In tale periodo Fogazzaro ebbe una relazione, che si prolungher per una diecina d'anni, con Felicitas Buchner, una bavarese istitutrice dei figli del cognato dello scrittore, vissuta da entrambi con un forti sensi di colpa, fra sensualit e volont misticheggianti, che si riflette nello stesso intreccio del romanzo.

Il libro fu ignorato dalla maggior parte delle riviste letterarie ma lodato da Verga, che lo defin una delle pi belle concezioni romantiche mai apparse in Italia. Mario Soldati ne trasse l'omonimo film (1942).

Si conosce con esattezza il periodo di composizione del successivo romanzo, il Daniele Cortis, indicato dallo stesso scrittore: iniziato il 30 maggio 1881, fu compiuto l'11 marzo 1884. In tale periodo Fogazzaro ebbe una relazione, che si prolungher per una diecina d'anni, con Felicitas Buchner, una bavarese istitutrice dei figli del cognato dello scrittore, vissuta da entrambi con un forti sensi di colpa, fra sensualit e volont misticheggianti, che si riflette nello stesso intreccio del romanzo.

Ambientato negli anni che precedono la seconda guerra di indipendenza, sullo sfondo del lago di Lugano, la storia della famiglia del nobile Franco Maironi, cattolico e liberale, e della piccolo borghese Luisa Rigey, al cui matrimonio si era opposta la filoaustriaca marchesa Orsola, nonna di Franco.

Ambientato negli anni che precedono la seconda guerra di indipendenza, sullo sfondo del lago di Lugano, e la storia della famiglia del nobile Franco Maironi, cattolico e liberale, e della piccola borghese Luisa Rigey, al cui matrimonio si era opposta la filoaustriaca marchesa Orsola, nonna di Franco. Le difficolta economiche e il senso profondo di schiettezza e di giustizia che anima Luisa, rispetto al carattere flessibile di Franco, rendono difficile il rapporto fra i due coniugi fino ad allontanarli quando la piccola figlia Maria muore annegando nel lago; ma mentre Luisa si chiude in se stessa e si dedica allo spiritismo nell'illusione di ricostituire un contatto con la bambina, Franco si trasferisce a Torino, dove lavora e acquisisce la coscienza della necessita di partecipare attivamente alla liberazione delle terre italiane dall'occupazione austriaca.