(11 March 2016) One hundred years ago, in 1916 on March 4, Giorgio Bassani opened his eyes to the world for the first time: to celebrate this anniversary, the Italian Cultural Institute in Lisbon on 15 November (at 7.15pm) will remember the Emilia-Romagna writer with an event that will see the participation of his daughter Paola Bassani, President of the Giorgio Bassani Foundation. “During the evening – reads the introductory note of the Institute – we will show videos that trace a meaningful and memorable profile of Bassani man and writer, including the documentary ‘The Lost Garden of Giorgio Bassani’ by Silvana Palumbieri”. Bassani was born in Bologna into a family of the Jewish bourgeoisie, but spent his childhood and youth in Ferrara, destined to become the heart of his poetic world. In 1943, he moved to Rome and only after 1945 he devoted himself to an intense literary activity, working both as a writer and editorial operator. After several collections of poems and the publication of “Cinque Storie Ferraresi” in 1956, Bassani published his masterpiece, “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis” (1962), which in 1970 inspired Vittorio De Sica and led the Italian director to win the Academy Award in 1972 for Best Foreign Film. Bassani’s later works, all developed around the large geographical and sentimental theme of Ferrara, are “Dietro la porta” (1964), “L’Airone” (1968) and “L’odore del fieno” (1973), published in 1974 in a single volume entitled “Il romanzo di Ferrara” with the short story “Gli occhiali d’oro” (1958), brought onto the silver screen by Giuliano Montaldo in 1987. After a long illness, Bassani died in Rome on April 13, 2000. (Red)
