Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Don Giuseppe Tomasi
Prince of Lampedusa
Duke of Palma
Grandee of Spain
Born(1896-12-23)23 December 1896
Palermo, Kingdom of Italy
Died23 July 1957(1957-07-23) (aged 60)
Rome, Italy
SpouseAlexandra von Wolff-Stomersee

Giuseppe Tomasi, 11th Prince of Lampedusa, 12th Duke of Palma, GE (23 December 1896 – 23 July 1957), known as Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe toˈmaːzi di lampeˈduːza]), was a Sicilian writer, nobleman, and Prince of Lampedusa.[1] He is most famous for his only novel, Il Gattopardo (first published posthumously in 1958), which is set in his native Sicily during the Risorgimento. A taciturn, solitary, shy, and somewhat misanthropic aristocrat, he opened up only with a few close friends,[2] and spent a great deal of his time reading and meditating. He said of himself as a child, "I was a boy who liked solitude, who preferred the company of things to that of people",[3] and in 1954 wrote, "Of my sixteen hours of daily wakefulness, at least ten are spent in solitude."[4]

  1. ^ Bernard A. Cook (2001). Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia. Garland. p. 766. ISBN 9780815340584.
  2. ^ (Gilmour 1988, pp. 91–95)
  3. ^ Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, I Racconti (Stories), Universale Economica Feltrinelli, 2005, p. 53
  4. ^ (Gilmour 1988, p. 106)