Emilio Salgari | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1862-08-21)21 August 1862 |
| Died | 25 April 1911(1911-04-25) (aged 48) |
| Occupation | Journalist, writer, novelist |
| Genre | Adventure,Westerns,Historical fiction,Science fiction |
| Notable works | Sandokan,The Tigers of Mompracem (series),The Black Corsair (series) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
Emilio Salgari (Italian pronunciation:[eˈmiːljosalˈɡaːri], but often erroneouslypronounced[ˈsalɡari]; 21 August 1862 – 25 April 1911) was anItalian writer ofaction adventureswashbucklers and a pioneer ofscience fiction.[1]
In Italy, his extensive body of work was more widely read than that ofDante Alighieri. In the 21st century, he is still among the 40 most translated Italian authors. Many of his most popular novels have been adapted as comics, animated series and feature films. He is considered the father of Italianadventure fiction and Italianpop culture, and the "grandfather" of theSpaghetti Western.[2]
Emilio Salgari was born inVerona to a family of modest merchants. From a young age, he had the desire to explore the seas and studied seamanship at a nautical technical institution inVenice, but his academic performance was too poor, and he never graduated.
He began his writing career as a reporter for the dailyLa Nuova Arena, which published some of his work as serials. As his powers of narration grew, so did his reputation for having lived a life of adventure. He claimed to have explored theSudan desert, metBuffalo Bill in Nebraska (he had actually met him during his "Wild West Show" tour of Italy), and sailed theSeven Seas. His early biographies were filled with adventurous tales set in theFar East, events which he claimed were the basis for much of his work. Salgari had actually never ventured farther than theAdriatic Sea.
He turned his passion for exploration and discovery to writing. His first stories were serialized in newspapers. Early in his career, he began signing his tales as "Captain Salgari", a title he once defended in a duel when his claim to it was questioned.
Though knighted by the Queen of Italy and wildly popular, Salgari did not earn much money from his books and lived hand to mouth for most of his life.
Salgari married Ida Peruzzi – nicknamed "Aida," with whom he was very happy for years.[3] The couple had four children. Salgari's private life was clouded by several tragedies. In 1889 his father committedsuicide.[3] Ida became ill after 1903 and Salgari's struggling increased with her medical bills.
These events led Salgari todepression, and he attempted suicide in 1910. After Ida was committed to a mental ward in 1911, Salgari was overwhelmed and took his own life soon afterwards, imitating the Japanese ritual ofseppuku, and died on 25 April 1911.[3] He left three letters, addressed to his and Ida's children, his publisher, and the editors of his newspaper inTurin. The letter to his publisher said:
To you that have grown rich from the sweat of my brow while keeping myself and my family in misery, I ask only that from those profits you find the funds to pay for my funeral. I salute you while I break my pen. Emilio Salgari.[3]
Two of the sons of Emilio and Aida also committed suicide, Romero in 1933[3] and Omar, an adventure writer himself, in 1963.[4] His daughter Fatima died of tuberculosis in 1914, while his remaining son Nadir died in a motorcycle accident in 1936. His wife died in the mental ward in 1922.[5]
Salgari wrote more than 200 adventure stories and novels, setting his tales in exotic locations, with heroes from a wide variety of cultures. He gained inspiration from reading foreign literature and newspapers, travel magazines and encyclopedias, which he used to portray his heroes' worlds. He wrote four major series:The Pirates of Malaysia;The Black Corsair Saga;The Pirates of Bermuda; and a collection of adventures set in the Old West. Salgari's heroes were mostly pirates, outlaws and barbarians, fighting against greed, abuse of power, and corruption.
His most famous heroesSandokan, The Tiger of Malaysia, a Bornean prince turned pirate, and his loyal lieutenant Yanez of Gomera, led their men in attacks against theDutch andBritish fleets. They declared war onJames Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak, and tried to force him from his throne. The Black Corsair andCaptain Morgan maintained achivalric code in the Caribbean, while Salgari's pirates of Bermuda fought forAmerican independence.
His tales had been so popular that soon his publisher hired other writers to develop adventure stories under his name. They added 50 novels to his “canon”. Salgari's style was imitated by many, but no other Italian adventure writer managed to duplicate his popular success.
He also published numerous minor works, among whichIl Brick Maledetto (Milano, Sonzogno, 1936) published posthumously.[1]
Salgari's work was imitated in one form or another by many who came after him. A large part of the Italian adventure literature is a continuation of Salgari's work. Many late 19th century writers such as Luigi Motta and Emilio Fancelli wrote furtherSandokan adventures imitating Salgari's style: fast-paced, filled with great battles, blood, violence and punctuated with humour.
The style soon spread to films and television. One example is the work of the directorSergio Leone, whose outlaw heroes in hisSpaghetti Westerns were inspired by Salgari's piratical adventurers. More than 50 film adaptations have been made of Salgari's novels, and many more were inspired by his work (corsair stories, jungle adventure stories, and swashbuckling B movies, such asMorgan, the Pirate, starringSteve Reeves).
Federico Fellini loved Salgari's books.Pietro Mascagni had over 50 Salgari titles in his library.Umberto Eco read Salgari's works as a child.
His work was very popular in Portugal, Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, where Latin American writers such asGabriel García Márquez,Isabel Allende,Carlos Fuentes,Jorge Luis Borges andPablo Neruda, all attested to reading him when young.Che Guevara read 62 of his books, according to his biographerPaco Ignacio Taibo II, who remarked that the revolutionary'santi-imperialism could be seen to be "Salgarian in origin".
Though popular with the masses, Salgari was shunned by critics throughout his life and for most of the 20th century. It was not until the late 1990s that his writings began to be revisited, and new translations appeared in print. They have been newly appreciated for their characterization and plots. In 2001 the first National Salgari Association was founded in Italy to celebrate his work.[3] His life is the subject of the 2012 comic bookSweet Salgari byPaolo Bacilieri [it].[6]
Historians debate the first film adaptation of a Salgari novel.Cabiria, directed by Giovanni Pastrone bears many similarities to Emilio Salgari's 1908 adventure novelCartagine in Fiamme (Carthage is Burning). Salgari was never credited, andGabriele D'Annunzio was billed as the official screenwriter. D'Annunzio had been brought on board to help revise the film once it had been shot, earning the credit by changing the title toCabiria, changing the name of some of the characters, and rewriting the captions from what Pastrone had done. The three-hour epic movie with its cast of thousands created a sensation throughout Italy. It pioneered epic screen production and foreshadowed the work ofD.W. Griffith,Sergei Eisenstein and others.
Vitale De Stefano brought Salgari's pirates to the big screen in the early 1920s with a series of five films shot over two years, includingIl corsaro neroThe Black Corsair andLa Regina dei caraibi (The Queen of the Caribbean).Lex Barker appeared as the tiger hunter Tremal-Naik in the 1955 B-movieThe Mystery of The Black Jungle. Sandokan was played by Hercules starSteve Reeves inSandokan the Great andThePirates of Malaysia aka The Pirates of The Seven Seas.Ray Danton played the pirate in Luigi Capuano'sSandokan Against the Leopard of Sarawak (akaThrone of Vengeance.) and later reprised the role inSandokan Fights Back (akaThe Conqueror and the Empress).
The 1944 Mexican filmEl corsario negro is based on his novelThe Black Corsair.
The 1965 adventure filmLa montagna di luce (The Mountain of Light) was loosely based on Salgari's 1902 novel of the same title, which referred to the name of theKoh-i-Noor diamond. The film was released in English under several titles, the most commonly known of which wasJungle Adventurer. One of the alternate titles used for a later re-release wasSandok, an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Salgari's fictional pirateSandokan, even though neither the novel, nor the film had anything to do with Sandokan's character or the settings of his adventures (the plot revolved around a fictitious attempt to steal the Koh-i-Noor, and took place in 19th-centuryIndia).
In 1976, the landmarkSandokan TV miniseries played throughout Europe. It starredKabir Bedi in the title role and attracted more than 80 million viewers a week. Bedi has been considered the quintessentialSandokan ever since. He later reprised the role in the late 1990s in a series of sequels.
Massimo de Rita and Lucio Mandara collaborated on a story for 1988' TV miniseriesThe Secret of Sahara which was loosely based on Salgari's works.
Salgari's works have been published by numerous publishing houses worldwide. These include: Donath, Viglongo, Carroccio,RCS MediaGroup, andMondadori in Italian; Saturnino Calleja, Editorial Porrúa (Colección Sepan Cuantos) and Ediciones Gaviota in Spanish; Editora Illuminuras in Portuguese; Bouquins in French; ABLIT Verlag in German; and ROH Press in English.ROH Press has been republishing the novels in Italian, with their translations into English and Spanish.
Though Salgari's novels have been popular in Europe and Latin America for over a century, at present only nine titles are available in English, published by ROH Press.
The last three tiles were published posthumously.
Excerpts from 15 of Salgari's titles were collected inStorie Rosse in 1910. Each excerpt is introduced by a brief synopsis of the novel it was drawn from.
Media related toEmilio Salgari at Wikimedia Commons
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