Giosuè Carducci
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Giosuè Carducci
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1906
Born: 27 July 1835, Val di Castello, Tuscany (now Italy)
Died: 16 February 1907, Bologna, Italy
Residence at the time of the award: Italy
Prize motivation: “not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces”
Language: Italian
Prize share: 1/1
Life
Giosué Carducci was born in Valdicastello, Italy. After graduating from the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, he began teaching. In 1860, he was appointed the chair of Italian literature at the University of Bologna, where he lectured for more than 40 years. He was a popular lecturer and a literary and social critic who led an active political life. He was elected to the Senate in 1890.
Work
Inspired both by his own time as well as his study of the classical and Italian poets, Carducci began writing poetry when he was a child. His first collection of poetry was Rime (1857). He was an atheist whose criticism of Christianity is most prominently showcased in the provocative poem “Hymn to Satan” (published in 1865).
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