Elsa Morante was born in Rome on 18th August 1912 to Francesco Lo Monaco and Irma Poggibonsi. However, she was recognised at the registry office by her mother’s husband, Augusto Morante, from whom she took her surname.

She began writing at a very young age, devoting herself to writing fairy tales and short stories, many of which were published posthumously.

She began writing from a very young age, devoting herself to writing fairy tales and short stories, many of which were published posthumously. In 1936, she met Alberto Moravia, with whom she began a tormented relationship, but which led them to the altar on 14th April 1941.

In 1943, the intensification of anti-Semitic repression led Morante and Moravia (who was Jewish) to flee Rome and take refuge in the south, towards Fondi, where they stayed for a few months, experiencing a reality that was to become decisive for both of them in the writing of some later works.

In 1943, the intensification of anti-Semitic repression led Morante and Moravia (who was Jewish) to flee Rome and take refuge in the south, towards Fondi, where they stayed for a few months, experiencing a reality that was to become decisive for both of them in the writing of some later works.

Back in Rome, in 1944, Morante published her first novel Menzogna e sortilegio (1948), which won her the “Premio Viareggio”.

In 1957, she was the first woman to be awarded the “Premio Strega” for her second novel, L’isola di Arturo.

Later, starting in 1971, she began work on the most famous of her novels, La storia, published by Einaudi in 1974: it was printed directly in a paperback edition at the author’s own wish, so that it would be accessible to everyone from the outset.

Over the next decade, he continued to devote himself tirelessly to literary and other activities, but his health declined steadily and inexorably.

She died in Rome on 25th November 1985. Her ashes were scattered in the sea of Procida.

You can consult the birth certificate on the Ancestors Portal: Archivio di Stato di Roma > Stato civile italiano > Roma > 1912

It is worth noting that her biological father, Francesco Lo Monaco, a clerk, appears in the birth certificate as one of the witnesses and as ‘godfather’ would be known to Elsa Morante until she was 14 years old.

In the margin, the deed also shows the chancellery note marking her marriage to Alberto Moravia, which took place on 14th April 1941.

A little further down, there is another annotation dated 30th May 1941 stating that Morante, although the daughter of a Jewish mother, ‘was recognised as not belonging to the Jewish race’.

The original is kept at the State Archives of Rome.

For more on the figure of Elsa Morante, see the entry in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani edited by Nadia Setti.