 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa |
|---|---|
| Original title | Il Gattopardo |
| Language | Italian |
| Genre | Novel |
| Set in | Sicily |
| Published | 1958 |
| Publisher | Feltrinelli |
| Publication place | Italy |
| Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback) |
| Pages | 330 |
| Awards | |
| ISBN | 0-679-73121-0 (Pantheon edition) |
| OCLC | 312310 |
| 853.914 | |
| LC Class | PQ4843.O53 |
The Leopard (Italian: Il Gattopardo [il ˌɡattoˈpardo]) is a novel by Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the leading Italian publishing houses Mondadori and Einaudi, it became the top-selling novel in Italian history and is considered one of the most important novels in modern Italian literature. In 1959, it won Italy's highest award for fiction, the Strega Prize.[1] In 2012, The Guardian named it as one of "the 10 best historical novels".[2] The novel was made into an award-winning 1963 film of the same name, directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon.
Tomasi was the last in a line of minor princes in Sicily. He had long contemplated writing a historical novel based on his great-grandfather, Don Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi, another Prince of Lampedusa. The Lampedusa Palace in Palermo, like the palace in the novel, was bombed during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.
- ^ Mitgang, Herbert (21 August 1991). "Books of The Times; Dying World of the 'Last Leopard'". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
The Leopard won Italy's highest award for fiction, the Strega Prize, and became a huge best seller.
- ^ Skidelsky, William (12 May 2012). "The 10 best historical novels". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2017.