Giovanni Verga

Giovanni Verga was an Italian realism (verista) writer best known for his descriptions of life in Sicily, particularly the short story and subsequent play Cavalleria rusticana and the novel I Malavoglia (The House by the Medlar Tree). Verga, the first son of Giovanni Battista Catalano Verga and Caterina Di Mauro, was born into an affluent family in Catania, Sicily. He began writing in his teens and published the historical novel Amore Patria (Love and Homeland) when he was only 16. Although he...See more

Giovanni Verga was an Italian realism (verista) writer best known for his descriptions of life in Sicily, particularly the short story and subsequent play Cavalleria rusticana and the novel I Malavoglia (The House by the Medlar Tree). Verga, the first son of Giovanni Battista Catalano Verga and Caterina Di Mauro, was born into an affluent family in Catania, Sicily. He began writing in his teens and published the historical novel Amore Patria (Love and Homeland) when he was only 16. Although he was technically studying law at the University of Catania, he used money entrusted to him by his father to publish his I carbonari della montagna (The Carbonari of the Mountain) in 1861-1862. In 1920, he was appointed Senator of the Kingdom for life. He died from a cerebral thrombosis in 1922. He was an atheist. In 2022, the official Verga 100 event was started, commemorating the writer's century with a variety of events from Palermo to Milan, including theater, musical performances, cinema, and a book festival. Verga returned to Catania in 1894, living in the same house where he had grown up. This home in Via Sant'Anna #8 in Catania has been converted into an author museum. The Casa-Museo Giovanni Verga is housed on the second floor of an unassuming 18th-century palace. The furnishings were those that existed at the time of his death, including his extensive personal library. See less