Sciascia, Leonardo

▪ Italian author

born Jan. 8, 1921, Racalmuto, near Agrigento, Italy

died Nov. 20, 1989, Palermo

      Italian writer noted for his metaphysical examinations of political corruption and arbitrary power.

      Sciascia studied at the Magistrale Institute in Caltanissetta. He held either clerical or teaching positions for much of his career, retiring to write full-time in 1968. His political career began in 1976, when he was a Communist Party member in the Palermo city council. Later Sciascia served as a member of the Radical Party in the Italian Parliament; he was elected to the European Parliament in 1979.

      Sciascia's first published work was Favole della dittatura (1950; “Fables of the Dictatorship”), a satire on fascism. He also wrote two early collections of poetry. His first significant novel, Le parrocchie de regalpetra (1956; Salt in the Wound), chronicles the history of a small Sicilian town and the effect of politics on the lives of the townspeople. He further examined what he termed sicilitudine (“Sicilian-ness”) in the four stories of Gli zii di Sicilia (1958; Sicilian Uncles). Although Sicilian life and attitudes remained the chief subject of his writing, Sciascia did not discover his favourite vehicle, the mystery novel, until the publication in 1961 of Il giorno della civetta (“The Day of the Owl,” first Eng. trans. Mafia Vendetta), a study of the Mafia. Other mystery novels followed, among them A ciascuno il suo (1966; A Man's Blessing), Il contesto (1971; Equal Danger), and Todo modo (1974; One Way or Another). Sciascia also wrote historical analyses, plays, short stories, and essays on Sicily and other subjects, and he edited a series of rare and unpublished works by Sicilian writers for the Sellario publishing house.

* * *