Eugenio Montale

Eugenio Montale (Italian: [euˈdʒɛnjo monˈtale]; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is widely considered the greatest Italian lyric poet since Giacomo Leopardi. In 1973 he was awarded the Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings in Struga, Macedonia.

Life and works

Early years

Montale was born in Genoa. His family were chemical products traders (his father supplied Italo Svevo's firm). The poet's niece, Bianca Montale, in her Cronaca famigliare ("Family Chronicle") of 1986 portrays the family's common characteristics as "nervous fragility, shyness, concision in speaking, a tendency to see the worst in every event, a certain sense of humour".

Montale was the youngest of six sons. He recalled:

In 1915 Montale worked as an accountant, but was left free to follow his literary passion, frequenting the city's libraries and attending his sister Marianna's private philosophy lessons. He also studied opera singing with the baritone Ernesto Sivori.