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Friday, September 03, 2010 
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Literary itineraries in Trieste
The lives of
many famous men who were either born in Trieste or who lived there for a while,
were spent on the seafront and in the rugged karst hinterland. Walking in their
footsteps can prove both intriguing and interesting.
Ettore Schmitz, whose pen name was Italo Svevo, was born in
Trieste in 1861 and was a friend of James Joyce. He is one of the greatest
writers of contemporary Italian literature. The places in his life and those
mentioned in his novels ("A life", "Emilio's carnival" and
"Zeno's Conscience") can still exert some fascination: the house where
he was born at viale XX Settembre 16; the Schmitz family residence at Via
Carducci 12; the l'Istituto Commerciale Revoltella (a business school) at Via
Battisti 12, which he attended after his studies at the Jewish school at Via del
Monte 3; the Berlitz school at Piazza Ponterosso 4; where he studied English and
met Joyce, one of the teachers there; the Banca Union at Via Einaudi 1, his
first place of work; Caffè Garibaldi in piazza Unità d'Italia; the Biblioteca
Civica (town library) at Piazza Hortis 4, where he read the great European
writers discussed in his articles; Villa Veneziani and factory at Via Italo
Svevo 22/24; Villa Tika at Via Nazionale 18 and Villa Letizia at Via Basovizza 8
in Opicina.
James Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882 and died in Zurich in 1941.
He is one of the most important European writers of the twentieth century. He
lived in Trieste twice, from 1904 to 1915 and from 1919 to 1920, where he
finished writing the "Dubliners" and "A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man". He composed the short prose-poem "Giacomo
Joyce" and a play called "Exiles" here and he also
began writing his famous work of "Ulysses", writing some of its
most significant chapters in Trieste and all his homes can be found across the
town, as can the myriad places he offen visited.
Trieste can also be enjoyed through the eyes of another famous poet, Umberto
Saba, the son of Ugo Abramo Poli and Rachele Coen; his pen name was
taken from his beloved nanny's name. He entitled his first collection of poetry
"With my eyes" (1912); in this poetry he sees himself through his
hometown. Trieste is a constant, important presence in all the poet's work. You
can still find the Saba bookstore the poet from 1919 in via San Nicolò.
Another noteworthy writer, Scipio Slataper; was born in Trieste on
July 14th 1888 and died on December 3rd 1915, at Podgora, fighting with the
Italians. In "Il mio Carso", he deals with the relationship
between Trieste and its Slovenian hinterland and their ensuing peculiarities.
Fulvio Tomizza, who was born in Materada, Istria in 1935 and died
in Trieste in 1999, was consciously sympathetic to the heartache of those who
lived in these lands (Materada, The Girl from Petrovia, The
Acacia Wood). And last but not least, the famous British consul, explorer,
traslator and orientalist Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) spent
the latter part of his adventurous life in Trieste. Here he wrote a book on the
Roman Baths in Monfalcone and his best known book by far: the translation of The
Arabian Nights, published in sixteen volumes from 1885 to 1888 with his
title of The Book of a Thousand nights and a night.
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Ettore Schmitz, whose pen name was Italo Svevo, was born in
Trieste in 1861 and was a friend of James Joyce. He is one of the greatest
writers of contemporary Italian literature. The places in his life and those
mentioned in his novels ("A life", "Emilio's carnival" and
"Zeno's Conscience") can still exert some fascination: the house where
he was born at viale XX Settembre 16; the Schmitz family residence at Via
Carducci 12; the l'Istituto Commerciale Revoltella (a business school) at Via
Battisti 12, which he attended after his studies at the Jewish school at Via del
Monte 3; the Berlitz school at Piazza Ponterosso 4; where he studied English and
met Joyce, one of the teachers there; the Banca Union at Via Einaudi 1, his
first place of work; Caffè Garibaldi in piazza Unità d'Italia; the Biblioteca
Civica (town library) at Piazza Hortis 4, where he read the great European
writers discussed in his articles; Villa Veneziani and factory at Via Italo
Svevo 22/24; Villa Tika at Via Nazionale 18 and Villa Letizia at Via Basovizza 8
in Opicina.
James Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882 and died in Zurich in 1941.
He is one of the most important European writers of the twentieth century. He
lived in Trieste twice, from 1904 to 1915 and from 1919 to 1920, where he
finished writing the "Dubliners" and "A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man". He composed the short prose-poem "Giacomo
Joyce" and a play called "Exiles" here and he also
began writing his famous work of "Ulysses", writing some of its
most significant chapters in Trieste and all his homes can be found across the
town, as can the myriad places he offen visited.
Trieste can also be enjoyed through the eyes of another famous poet, Umberto
Saba, the son of Ugo Abramo Poli and Rachele Coen; his pen name was
taken from his beloved nanny's name. He entitled his first collection of poetry
"With my eyes" (1912); in this poetry he sees himself through his
hometown. Trieste is a constant, important presence in all the poet's work. You
can still find the Saba bookstore the poet from 1919 in via San Nicolò.