11 Facts About Leonardo Sciascia

Leonardo Sciascia is one of the greatest literary figures in the European literature of the 20th century.

In 1935, his family moved to Caltanissetta, where Leonardo Sciascia studied under Vitaliano Brancati, who would become his model in writing and introduce him to French novelists.

From Giuseppe Granata, future Communist member of the Italian Senate, Leonardo Sciascia learned about the French Enlightenment and American literature.

In 1971, Leonardo Sciascia returned again to mystery with Il contesto, which inspired Francesco Rosi's movie Cadaveri eccellenti.

At the 1975 communal elections in Palermo, Leonardo Sciascia ran as an independent within the Italian Communist Party slate and was elected to the city council.

Leonardo Sciascia presented a forensic analysis of the kidnapping and assassination of Aldo Moro, a prominent Christian Democrat, in his book The Moro Affair.

Leonardo Sciascia's work is intricate and displays a longing for justice while attempting to show how corrupt Italian society had become and remains.

Leonardo Sciascia's linking of politicians, intrigue, and the Mafia gave him a high profile, which was very much at odds with his private self.

Leonardo Sciascia wrote of his unique Sicilian experience, linking families with political parties, the treachery of alliances and allegiances, and the calling of favours that result in outcomes that do not benefit society, but those individuals who are in favor.

Leonardo Sciascia's books are rarely characterized by a happy ending or by justice for the ordinary man.

Leonardo Sciascia's 1984 opus, Occhio di Capra, is a collection of Sicilian sayings and proverbs gathered from the area around his native village, to which he was intensely attached throughout his life.