Ignazio Silone

Secondino Tranquilli (1 May 1900 – 22 August 1978), best known by the pseudonym Ignazio Silone (, ), was an Italian politician, novelist, essayist, playwright, and short-story writer, world-famous during World War II for his powerful anti-fascist novels. Considered among the most well-known and read Italian intellectuals in Europe and in the world, his most famous novel, ''Fontamara'', became emblematic for its denunciation of the condition of poverty, injustice, and social oppression of the lower classes, has been translated into numerous languages. From 1946 to 1963, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

For many years an anti-fascist exile abroad, Silone participated actively and in various phases of Italian politics, animating the cultural life of the country in the post-war period. He was among the founders of the Italy's Communist party in 1921; he was later expelled for his dissidence with the Stalinist party line, and moved to democratic socialist positions. The break with the Italian Communist Party in the years after World War II led him to be often opposed by Italian critics and rehabilitated belatedly despite a controversy about his relations with the Italian fascist secret police, while for all his career he was particularly appreciated abroad. Provided by Wikipedia