Moravia, Alberto

WRITER (ITALY)
BORN 28 Nov 1907, Roma, Lazio - DIED 26 Sep 1990, Roma, Lazio
BIRTH NAME Pincherle, Alberto
GRAVE LOCATION Roma, Lazio: Cimitero Monumentale del Verano, Piazzale del Verano, 1 (Ampliamento, section 23)

Alberto Moravia was the son of a Hewish architect and painter. As a child he suffered from tuberculosis and he was bedridden for five years, first at home and then in a sanarorium. In 1925 he left the sanatorium and went to Brixen, where his first novel Gli Indifferenti was written. It was published in 1929 and in 1970 Bertolucci turned it into the movie "The Conformist".

He worked as a journalist for "Magazine 900" and that magazine published short stories by his hand. In 1933 he started the literary magazine "Caratteri" together with Mario Pannunzio. The follwing years were difficult because the fascist frequently banned his work. After "La Mascherata" was forbidden in 1941 he used a pseudonym. Also in 1941 he married the novelist Elsa Morante.

In 1943 they moved to Fondi, but after the fall of the fascists in 1944 they returned to Rome. After the war his work sold well and was translated into other languages. In 1960 he won the Viareggio Prize with "La Noia". In the same year his "La Ciociara" was filmed by Vittorio de Sica starring Sophia Loren.

In 1962 he separated from Elsa and after that he lived with the author Dacia Maraini. Duiring the sixties he mainly wrote for the theatre and in 1967 he travelled to Asia. In 1972 he visited Africa and in 1982 he visited Hiroshima in Japan. In 1983 he and Dacia stopped living together. In 1990 he was found dead in his bathroom at his home in Rome.

Related persons
• knew Bellezza, Dario

Images

The grave of Alberto Moravia at the Cimitero Monumentale al Verano, Rome.
Picture by Androom (24 Jan 2010)

 

Sources
Alberto Moravia - Wikipedia


Moreau, Gustave

Published: 20 Feb 2010
Last update: 25 Mar 2023