Corrado Alvaro was born in San Luca (Reggio Calabria) in 1895 to Antonio, an elementary school teacher and founder of an evening school for illiterate farmers and shepherds, and Antonia Giampaolo. He moved first to Perugia and then to Catanzaro to continue his studies, making his debut in literature early with the collection of verses Polsi nell’arte, nella leggenda, nella storia (1911). In 1915 he was called up to arms and assigned to the Karst area as an infantry officer: this experience was the basis of the second poetic collection Poesie grigioverdi (1917). The same year also saw the beginning of his journalistic career and collaborations with the “Resto del Carlino” and – from 1919 – with the “Corriere della Sera”.

In 1920 he graduated in literature in Milan and published his first volume of short stories La siepe e l’orto; then, settling in Rome with his wife Laura Babini, translator and writer, he was called in 1922 by Giovanni Amendola to the editorial staff of the newspaper “Il Mondo”, where he remained until the suppression of the newspaper in 1926, taking part alongside Amendola in the battle against fascism. Subjected to gang violence and later persecution, he left Italy for some time, staying for a long time in Paris and Berlin.

In these years he edited the anthologies of short stories L’amata alla finestra (1929), La signora dell’isola (1930), Misteri e avventure (1930). As a correspondent for “La Stampa” he also made numerous trips abroad, which he reported on in the reports Viaggio in Turkey (1932), Itinerario italiano (1933), The masters of the flood. Travel to Russia (1935), New land. First chronicle of the Agro Pontino (1938). He collaborated with «900», «Mercurio», «Critica fascista», «Omnibus», «Primato» and «Sipario». His first awards came with Vent’anni (1930), Gente in Aspromonte (1930, Premio La Stampa) and L’uomo è forte (1938).

The collapse of the dictatorship led him to the editorship of the Roman newspaper “Il Popolo di Roma”, which he held with great balance and acute sense of the situation until, after 8 September, he was forced to take refuge under a false name in Chieti.

Returning to Rome in 1944, in 1945 he founded the National Writers’ Union with Francesco Jovine and Libero Bigiaretti, of which he was secretary until his death. In the post-war period, L’Italia runzia? (1945), L’età breve (1946), Un treno nel sud (1950), Quasi una vita (1950), Il nostro tempo e la speranza (1952) and 75 racconti (1955) were published. Also worth mentioning is a brief experience as a screenwriter in the forties, traces of which remain in the films Noi vivi (1942) and La carne e l’anima (1943), and his activity as a translator (Tolstoy, de Rojas, Shakespeare etc.).

He died in Rome on 11 June 1956.

You can consult the birth certificate on the Ancestors Portal: State Archives of Reggio Calabria > Italian > Civil Status San Luca > 1895

The original is preserved in the State Archives of Reggio Calabria

For further information on the figure of Corrado Alvaro, see the entry in the Biographical Dictionary of Italians edited by Ferdinando Virdia.