Grazia Deledda
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Grazia Deledda
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1926
Born: 27 September 1871, Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy
Died: 15 August 1936, Rome, Italy
Residence at the time of the award: Italy
Prize motivation: “for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general”
Language: Italian
Grazia Deledda received her Nobel Prize one year later, in 1927.
Prize share: 1/1
Life
Grazia Deledda was born in the village of Nuoro on the island of Sardinia, Italy. She had six siblings and her father worked the family's land. Friends used to gather in the family's kitchen and share their stories, which shy little Grazia absorbed. Deledda attended school for just four years, which was considered sufficient for a girl, but also received private lessons in Italian. Her teacher encouraged her to submit her writing to a newspaper and, at age 13, Deledda's first story was published. Deledda married, moved to Rome, and had two sons.
Work
Grazia Deledda wrote a large collection of novels, short stories, articles, stage plays, and poems. Her first novel, Fior de Sardegna (The Flower of Sardinia), was published in 1892, and when Elias Portolu followed in 1903, it won Deledda international acclaim and gave her a broad following. Deledda's childhood was shaped by old traditions with deep historical roots and the unhappy fates of her family members imbued Deledda with a strong belief in destiny. Themes like uncontrollable forces, moral dilemmas, passion, and human weakness recur in her stories.
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