About Me
Italian poet, novelist and dramatist, military hero, supporter and then critic of fascist political ideas. D'Annunzio combined in his work naturalism, symbolism, and erotic images, becoming the best interpreter of European Decadence in post-Risorgimento Italy. His love affairs, relationship with the world-famous actress Eleanora Duse, heroic adventures during World War I, and his occupation of Fiume in 1919 made him a legend in his own time.
Gabriele d`Annunzio was born in Pescara (Abruzzi), in Central Italy on the Adriatic coast, in 1863. This environment provided him with inspiration for many his books. "On the soles of my shoes, the heels of my boots I carry the earth of Abruzzi, the mud of my estuary," d'Annunzio used to say. His father was a wealthy landowner, dealer in wine and agricultural products, and later mayor of the town - originally his name was Francesco Paolo Rapagnetta. At the age of 13 he had been adopted by his uncle, Antionio d'Annunzio, and he legally added the 'd'Annunzio' to his name.D'Annunzio studied at the Liceo Cicognini in Prato - the school was one of the best in Italy at that time. As a poet d'Annunzio made his debut at the age of sixteen. In 1881 he entered the University of Rome, where he fully participated in the capital's social and cultural life, and contributed to several newspapers.In 1883 d'Annunzio married Maria Hardouin di Gallese, a duke's daughter. They had three sons; the marriage ended in 1891. During these years d'Annunzio produced much hack work in order to support the expensive life style of his titled wife.D'Annunzio's works in the 1880s expressed the sensuous joys of life. His short stories showed the influence of the popular French writer Guy de Maupassant.D'Annunzio published his first full-length novel, The Child of Pleasure, in 1889. The story of a snobbish but weak-willed decadent was a parody of contemporary French 'decadent' fiction. D'Annunzio's next novel, The Victim (1891), was a story where the husband, sexually depraved Tullio Hermil, forces his chaste wife into adultery. His best-known novel, The Triumph of Death (1894) featured a Nietzschean hero as well as his next major novel LE VERGINI DELLE ROCCE (1896).In the early 1890s D'Annunzio moved to Naples, where his novel, The Intruder (1898), was serialized in Il corriere di Napoli. After a long liaison with the Countess Gravina Auguissola, D´Annunzio began in 1894 an affair with the actress Eleonora Duse. Their relationship started after D'Annunzio's journey to the Aegean islands. Inspired by Duse, he wrote several dramas for her, including LA GIOCONDA (1899) and FRANCESCA DA RIMINI (1901).In 1897 D'Annunzio was elected to parliament for a three-year term, aligning himself in the beginning with the extreme right but moving then to the left. In 1899 D'Annunzio settled in a luxurious Tuscan villa, La Capponcina. He was defeated in the elections next year, but continued to live over his income. Accumulating debts forced D´Annunzio eventually to flee in 1910 to France, in Arcachon near Cap Ferret. There he began a new career as a writer. LE MARTYR DE SAINT SÉBASTIEN (1911), a play-with-music, was made with the French composer Claude Debussy. In its premiere, starring Ida Rubinstein, the writer Marcel Proust considered Ida's legs were the most interesting thing about the event. The work is still performed because of the celebrated music.When World War I broke out, D'Annunzio returned to Italy and started successful career as a military leader. D'Annunzio had yearned years for war which would change Italy's position as a second-rate power. He made speeches, wrote articles exhorting his countrymen to assist the Allied cause, and joined the air force, becoming one of Italy's most celebrated heroes. In a wartime flying accident, D'Annunzio lost an eye. His prose pieces in NOTTURNO (1921) were composed when he was recovering from the injury. In 1919, annoyed that Italy had lost the town of Fiume, D´Annunzio's troops occupied the town, where he ruled it as a dictator for eighteen months until 1920. At one point he declared war against Italy but was finally forced to retreat.Although Mussolini was much influenced by the tactics of d'Annunzio, the writer never held an important post in the Fascist government. d'Annunzio retired to his home on Lake Garda and spent his last years writing. In 1924 he was created Prince of Monte Nevoso and in 1937, following the death of Marconi, he was made president of the Italian Royal Academy. D'Annunzio died of a stroke at his desk on March 1, 1938. He was given a state funeral by Mussolini. D´Annunzio´s collected works were published in the 1950s. His correspondence with Mussolini appeared in 1971.D'Annunzio's fin-de-siècle works are now mostly forgotten and his plays are rarely performed. After World War II his reputation declined in the new literary atmosphere. However, his life has fascinated several biographers. Among d'Annunzio's more enduring works is The Flame of Life (1900), where the writer portrays himself as Stelio Effrena, a young writer infatuated with a famous actress. The novel is a fictionalized account of his love affair with Duse, and created a onsiderable scandal at the time of its publication. D'Annunzio's and Duse's relationship ended in 1910.
