Lauro De Bosis
Lauro De Bosis | |
---|---|
Born | Rome, Italy | 9 December 1901
Died | 3 October 1931 Tyrrhenian Sea | (aged 29)
Occupation | Writer, poet, aviator |
Language | Italian |
Nationality | Italian |
Education | Chemistry |
Alma mater | Sapienza University of Rome |
Period | 1930–1931 |
Years active | 1924–1931 |
Partner | Ruth Draper |
Olympic medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Art competitions | ||
1928 Amsterdam | Dramatic works |
Lauro Adolfo De Bosis (
Life
Lauro de Bosis was born in 1901. His mother was Lillian Vernon, a New Englander, and his father, Adolfo, a minor poet and editor of the review, Convito. Their home was a type of intellectual salon. His father translated Shelley, while Lauro himself translated tragedies by Aeschylus and Sophocles, and Frazer's Golden Bough. At university he studied chemistry.[1]
Anti-fascism
De Bosis became quickly disillusioned with Mussolini after the 1924 murder of the anti-fascist politician Giacomo Matteotti.[2] In 1928 he won a silver medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his verse-drama "Icaro", an anti-fascist allegory disguised as a retelling of the Greek myth.[3] That same year he met actress Ruth Draper and commenced a relationship that continued until his death.
De Bosis shuttled back and forth between Italy and the United States, where he taught Italian literature at Harvard.[2] In the summer of 1930, De Bosis resigned from the Italy-America Society to found the "Alleanza Nazionale" and concentrate on the group's mission—the clandestine circulation of anti-Fascist newsletters in Italy. Inspired by another anti-Fascist (Giovanni Bassanesi) who earlier had flown over Milan dropping leaflets denouncing Il Duce, de Bosis decided to embark upon a similar flight over Rome.[4] The following summer De Bosis took flying lessons.
On 3 October 1931, with only seven-and-a-half hours flying time and a partially filled fuel tank, De Bosis took off from
In 1938, actress
References
- ^ Farrell, Joseph. "Icarus as Anti-Fascist Myth: The Case of Lauro de Bosis", Italica, Vol. 69, No. 2 (Summer, 1992), pp. 198-209, American Association of Teachers of Italian
- ^ a b "DiMartino, Marc Alan. "Icarus", The American, June 4, 2010". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- ^ "Lauro De Bosis". Olympedia. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ a b ""The Actress and the Poet", the Ruth Draper Momologues". Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
- ^ Mitgang, Herbert. "A Need to Testify", New York Times, May 29, 1984
- ISBN 978-0874137668.
- ISBN 978-1885586513.
- ^ Gilmore, Myron P. (1974-02-28). "ITALIAN LECTURESHIP, letter". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
- ^ "Harvard Fills Post In Italian Studies After Long Vacancy". The Harvard Crimson. 1974-02-04. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
Further reading
- Diggins, John P. Mussolini and Fascism. The view from America. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1972, 430.
- De Bosis, L. The Story of My Death. English translation by Ruth Draper. Oxford University Press, 1933