SCHOLARS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR A CONFERENCE ON IGNAZIO SILONE

There is no doubt that Ignazio Silone, among the Italians writers of the twentieth century, remains to this day one of the most known, studied and translated author in the world, starting with the publication of his first novel, Fontamara, which occurred in Switzerland in 1933, in first edition in German translation. It is a further proof of the recent publication of two important books, one published in Abruzzo and one abroad, in Canada, which, albeit in different form one from each other, offer very original contributions to the study and knowledge of very little suspected or distorted issues of the complex human and literary personality of this great writer of Abruzzo, who always felt his very strong attachment to the homeland, his land of origin.

Of course it should not be kept quiet, in this introductory starting point - writes in a note Edward Tiboni Foundation which has organized for tomorrow a round table dedicated to Silone’s life, work and philosophy - his human, political and literary events and experiences have not been a bed of roses at all, in part certainly due to the obstinate and stubborn loyalty to his ethical and political principles, in part to grumpy confidentiality of the character, in large part to the ease with which some scholars and writers, we do not know how far to the search for truth and which truth, offered, especially after the Silone’s death, contributions that have little or nothing to do with the writer's greatness, who still towers over the international scene. The two volumes which we will particular reference to, in order to examine Silone’s modernity: the Fontamaresi. The School "of" freedom in Fontamara of Ignazio Silone, of Antonio Gasbarrini, intellectual among the most active ones in Abruzzo, and the late Annibale Gentile (who was definitely one of the most passionate scholars of Silone, besides his friend), takes into particular consideration the relationship of Silone and his debut novel with the world of childhood and, as we will see, with contributions even from budding artists of a school of Pescina, but by no means it doesn’t limit only to this, extending the speech also to the controversies we mentioned about before. The second contribution, On Friendship and Freedom. The Correspondence of Ignazio Silone and Marcel Fleischmann, of more scientific and academic nature as it was, published in English in Canada, is cureted by Maria NicolaiPaynter, a scholar and professor emeritus of Hunter College, of CUNY (City University of New York) who traveled through all the stages of his academic career between Canada and the United States, but who is of well established origins from Abruzzo, very known also in Italy not only for his fundamental contributions on Silone (attested also by flattering recognitions), but also of the equally important ones on the figure and work of David Maria Turoldo. The volume - explains the Foundation - through the meticulous reconstruction of the story of a friendship, especially through the letters that Silone and Fleischmann exchanged, introduces us to completely new aspects of Silone’s personality and thought. At the round table, which will begin at 18.00 at Mediamuseum, will participate, besides the president of the Edward Tiboni culture Foundation, Carla Tiboni, and Dante Marianacci, president of the National Center of D’Annunzio studies, the authors, Maria NicolaiPaynter and Antonio Gasbarrini, Angelo De Nicola, Gabriella Albertini and Nicoletta Di Gregorio. (AGI)