1. Grazia Deledda was the first Italian woman to receive the prize, and only the second woman in general after Selma Lagerlof was awarded hers in 1909.
20 Facts About Grazia Deledda
1. 2.
Grazia Deledda attended elementary school and was then educated by a private tutor and moved on to study literature on her own.
3.
Grazia Deledda's teacher encouraged her to submit her writing to a newspaper and, at age 13, her first story was published in a local journal.
4.
Grazia Deledda's main focus was the representation of poverty and the struggles associated with it through a combination of imaginary and autobiographical elements.
5.
Around this time Grazia Deledda initiated a regular collaboration with newspapers and magazines, most notably La Sardegna, Piccola Rivista and Nuova Antologia.
6.
Grazia Deledda's work earned significant visibility as well as critical interest.
7.
In October 1899, Grazia Deledda met Palmiro Madesani, a functionary of the Ministry of Finance, in Cagliari.
8.
Madesani and Grazia Deledda were married in 1900 and the couple moved to Rome right after the publication of Grazia Deledda's Il vecchio della montagna.
9.
Grazia Deledda was one of the contributors of the nationalist women's magazine, Lidel, which was established in 1919.
10.
Grazia Deledda's win contributed to an increase in popularity of her writing.
11.
Benito Mussolini, who had just consolidated his grip on power, sent Grazia Deledda a signed portrait of himself with a dedication where he expressed his "profound admiration" for the writer.
12.
Grazia Deledda initially welcomed them but eventually grew tired of the attention.
13.
Grazia Deledda continued to write even as she grew older and more fragile.
14.
Grazia Deledda died in Rome at the age of 64 of breast cancer.
15.
La chiesa della solitudine, Grazia Deledda's last novel, is a semi-autobiographical depiction of a young Italian woman coming to terms with a fatal disease.
16.
Grazia Deledda's work has been highly regarded by writers of Italian literature, including Luigi Capuana, Giovanni Verga, Enrico Thovez, Pietro Pancrazi, Renato Serra.
17.
In 1947 artist Amelia Camboni was commissioned a portrait of Grazia Deledda, currently standing close to her home in Rome in the Pincio neighbourhood.
18.
Grazia Deledda often relies on detailed geographical descriptions and her characters often present a strong connection with their place of origins.
19.
Grazia Deledda's novels tend to criticize social values and moral norms rather than the people who are victims of such circumstances.
20.
The voice of Grazia Deledda speaking at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1926.