Italo Svevo

Writing

Born: December 19, 1861 · Trieste, Italy
Died: September 13, 1928 (age 66)

Aron Hector Schmitz (1861–1928), better known by the pseudonym Italo Svevo, was an Italian writer, businessman, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Though only recognised for his literary achievements towards the end of his life, Svevo is celebrated as one of Italy's finest writers and, along with Luigi Pirandello, is considered a prominent figure of early 20th century Italian literature. He is seen as a pioneer of the psychological novel in Italy and is best known for his classic modernist novel La coscienza di Zeno (1923).

Svevo first started writing short stories in 1880. He took on the pseudonym "Italo Svevo" (literally "Italus the Swabian") for the publication of his first novel, Una vita, in 1892. The novel was not a success. His second novel, Senilità (1898), was also received poorly.

In 1923, Italo Svevo published the psychological novel La coscienza di Zeno (Zeno's Conscience). The work might have disappeared altogether if it were not for the efforts of James Joyce. Joyce had met Svevo in 1907, when Joyce tutored him in English while working for Berlitz in Trieste. Joyce championed the novel, helping to have it translated into French and then published in Paris, where critics praised it extravagantly. That led Italian critics, including Eugenio Montale, to discover it. While working on a sequel to Zeno, Svevo was killed in an automobile accident.