28 Facts About Roberto Saviano

1.

Roberto Saviano is an Italian writer, essayist, journalist, and screenwriter.

2.

Roberto Saviano has collaborated with numerous important Italian and international newspapers.

3.

Roberto Saviano's writing has drawn praise from many important writers and other cultural figures, such as Umberto Eco.

4.

Son of Luigi Saviano, a Neapolitan doctor, and Miriam Haftar, a Ligurian of Jewish origins, Roberto Saviano received his high school diploma from the Armando Diaz State Scientific High School and then graduated in philosophy from the University of Naples Federico II, where he was the student of historian Francesco Barbagallo.

5.

Roberto Saviano is the author, along with Mario Gelardi, of a theatrical work of the same name and is a screenwriter for Gomorrah, the movie based on the novel.

6.

On 10 December 2009, in the presence of Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo, Roberto Saviano received the title of Honorary Member of the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera and the Second Level Academic Diploma Honoris Causa in Communication and Art Education, which is the highest degree given by the university.

7.

Roberto Saviano dedicated the honor to the judges of Milan's district attorney's office who were investigating Rubygate.

8.

Roberto Saviano is primarily influenced by southern Italian intellectuals such as Giustino Fortunato and Gaetano Salvemini, by the anarchists Errico Malatesta and Mikhail Bakunin, and by poet Rocco Scotellaro.

9.

In 2006, following the success of Gomorrah, which denounces the activities of the Camorra, Roberto Saviano received ominous threats.

10.

Roberto Saviano contributed an op-ed piece to the 24 January 2010 issue of the New York Times, entitled "Italy's African Heroes" He wrote about the January 2010 riots between African immigrants and Italians in Rosarno, a town in Calabria.

11.

Roberto Saviano suggests that the rioting was more of a response to the migrants' exploitation by the 'Ndrangheta, or Calabrian mafia, than to the hostility of Italians.

12.

The success of his book created numerous problems for Roberto Saviano, starting with threatening letters, silent phone calls, and protective isolation.

13.

Roberto Saviano addressed them in robust tones and invited residents to rebel.

14.

The attorney general for Reggio Calabria, Federico Cafiero de Raho, testified during the trial, stating that Roberto Saviano was a "mortal enemy of the clan" and recalling that Roberto Saviano was among the few journalists present at all 52 of the prosecutor's closing speeches for the Spartacus Trial.

15.

Subsequently, the district attorney heading the investigation requested and obtained dismissal of the case as the reports appeared to be unfounded, although Schiavone confirmed that Roberto Saviano had been condemned to death by the Casalese clan.

16.

In October 2008, Roberto Saviano decided to leave Italy for a time, as the result of threats, which were confirmed by reports and statements from informants, revealing a Casalesi clan plan to eliminate him.

17.

On 20 October 2008, six international Nobel Prize winners rallied in support of Roberto Saviano, asking the Italian government to do something to protect him and to defeat the Camorra, and emphasizing the fact that organized crime is not merely a problem for police that only concerns the writer, but is a problem for democracy that concerns all free citizens.

18.

The appeal concluded that citizens cannot tolerate the fact that the events described in Roberto Saviano's book are taking place in 2008 in Europe, just as they can't tolerate that the price one pays for denouncing these events means losing one's freedom and safety.

19.

In October 2009, the head of the Rapid Response Team of Naples, Vittorio Pisani, questioned the need for a security detail to protect Roberto Saviano, maintaining that the death threats had not been confirmed.

20.

Furthermore, the head DA for the Anti-Mafia Office of Naples, Federico Cafiero de Raho, declared that Roberto Saviano is exposed to a high risk and, therefore, requires protection.

21.

Roberto Saviano replied in an article for La Repubblica, denouncing the attempt to isolate him and to cause the "disintegration" of the public's solidarity with him, comparing his case with those of Peppino Impastato, Giuseppe Fava, and Giancarlo Siani.

22.

However, in January 2009, Roberto Saviano retracted his signature, saying that this was out of respect for the victims.

23.

Roberto Saviano was accused by Marta Herling, the granddaughter of the Abruzzese philosopher Benedetto Croce, of having written a dishonest article about him.

24.

Roberto Saviano is the only survivor of the rich family from Foggia, which has been settled in Naples for a long time.

25.

Roberto Saviano recounted that his mother and sister were found among the rubble and passed away.

26.

The Supreme Court did not agree with Roberto Saviano's appeal, rejecting almost all of the findings and largely confirming the basic structure of the Appeals Court's sentence.

27.

In September 2015, journalist Michael C Moynihan wrote an article for The Daily Beast, criticizing ZeroZeroZero and accusing Saviano of having used sections of text, including from Wikipedia, without citing his sources.

28.

For four weeks from 4 October 2017, Roberto Saviano hosted the show Kings of Crime on the TV channel Nove, where he spoke of the major Italian and international bosses of the organized crime system.