Giuseppe Prezzolini

Giuseppe Prezzolini was an Italian literary critic, journalist, editor, and writer. As an autodidact, he published his first book in 1903, at the age of 21, and by the end of the decade had established himself as a prominent figure within the Italian literary community. Initially, he supported the nationalist movement and the rights of the bourgeoisie against socialism. A few years later, he developed sympathies for trade union socialism, and in 1908, he founded the cultural and literary magazine La Voce.

Prezzolini volunteered to serve during World War I and continued his career after he returned from the conflict until he was invited by Columbia University to serve as a Professor of Italian. Having taught several courses during the 1920s, he established a permanent position in 1929. In 1940, he acquired American citizenship and remained there until his retirement in the late 1950s, moving back to Italy in 1962. After a few years, however, he found himself disenchanted with what he saw as the decline of Italian political life and moved to Switzerland, where he spent the rest of his life, until his death in 1982 at the age of 100.

Prezzolini wrote more than 50 books, including essays on philosophy, history, and literary criticism, and was praised for his “sparkling prose”. Because of his alleged closeness to Mussolini’s fascists, he was controversial. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and the “Penna d’Oro”. Although he did not compete in the Olympic art competitions, he did serve as a judge for all three literature events at the 1928 Amsterdam Games.