Luzi, Mario Egidio Vincenzo

▪ 2006

      Italian poet, essayist, and translator (b. Oct. 20, 1914, Castello, near Florence, Italy—d. Feb. 28, 2005, Florence), was an exponent of Hermeticism, an Italian modernist poetic movement whose works were characterized by unorthodox structure, illogical sequences, and highly subjective language. Luzi studied at the University of Florence (Ph.D., 1936), specializing in French literature, which he later taught in Parma, San Miniato, Rome, and at the Florence Institute of Political Science (1955–85). His earliest collections of poetry—notably La barca (1935), Avvento notturno (1940), and Un brindisi (1946)—showed particularly strong elements of Hermeticism. In the early 1950s he was cofounder of the literary journal La chimera. Much of Luzi's later verse, however, was more narrative and less Hermetic. He also wrote short stories and essays on Hermeticism and literary theory and published Italian translations of English, French, and Spanish works. In 2004 Italian Pres. Carlo Ciampi named Luzi a senator for life.

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