Antonio Fogazzaro
| Antonio Fogazzaro | |
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| Born |
March 25, 1842 Vicenza |
| Died | March 7, 1911 (aged 68) Vicenza |
| Occupation | Poet, novelist |
| Nationality |
 Italian
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| Genre | Novel |
| Notable works | The Little World of the Past (1895), The Saint (1905) |
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Antonio Fogazzaro (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔnjo foɡatˈtsaro]; 25 March 1842 – 7 March 1911) was an Italian novelist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times.
Fogazzaro was born in Vicenza to a rich family. In 1864 he got a law degree in Turin. In Milan he followed the scapigliatura movement. In 1869 he was back in Vicenza to work as lawyer, but he left this path very soon to write books full-time.
In his works one finds a constant conflict between sense of duty and passions, faith and reason. In some cases this brings the tormented soul of characters into mystic experiences. Arguably his masterpiece was Piccolo Mondo Antico (variously titled in English translations as The Patriot or as The Little World of the Past). This well written novel is set in his beloved Valsolda on Lake Lugano, Italy, in the 1850s. It has delightful evocations of the landscape, and strong characterizations which reveal the inner psychological conflicts of the characters.
Fogazzaro was a deeply religious man but supported reform in the Catholic Church and toured Italy proposing to reconcile Darwin's theory of evolution with Christianity. He found new interpretations in positivist and evolutionist theories, but because of this the Roman Catholic Church banned the novels Il Santo in 1905 and Leila in 1910. He died in 1911 in his birthplace, Vicenza.
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