Ercole Patti | |
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Born | Catania, Italy | 16 February 1903
Died | 15 November 1976 Rome, Italy | (aged 73)
Occupation | Writer |
Ercole Patti (16 February 1903 – 15 November 1976) was an Italian writer, dramatist, screenwriter and journalist.
Born in Catania into an upper-middle-class family, the nephew of author Giuseppe Villaroel, Patti started working as a journalist at very young age, before graduating in law in 1925.[1] After practicing for a year in his father's firm, he decided to move to Rome where earning a living from journalism.[1] There, after some sporadic collaborations, he was employed in the newspaper Gazzetta del Popolo, where he was a foreign correspondent in China, India and Japan, among other places.[1] He got notoriety as a novelist in 1940, with Quartieri alti, a satirical portrait of Roman high classes.[1] His novels are mainly set in Rome or in a sensual Sicily, which was, according to literary critic Carlo Bo, a sort of philosophical ideal for Patti.[1]
Patti was active as a screenwriter since 1935, and a number of his novels were adapted into films. In addition to novels Patti published collections of short stories and two autobiographical works.[2]