Elsa Morante

Elsa Morante (August 18, 1918 – 25 November, 1985) was an Italian novelist, perhaps best known for her novel La Storia (History). She was born in Rome, but was only sporadically educated. She married the novelist Alberto Moravia in 1941, and through him she met many of the leading Italian thinkers and writers of the day.

Morante began writing short stories which appeared in various publications. Her first book was a collection of some of the stories, Il Gioco Segreto, published in 1941. It was followed in 1942 by a children's book, La Belissime Avventure di Cateri Dalla Trecciolina (rewritten in 1959 as Le Straordinarie Avventure Caterina).

Towards the end of World War II, Morante fled to the area around Cassino. This portion of southern Italy figured in much of her later work. She began translating Katherine Mansfield during this period, and her later work shows much Mansfield influence. Following the war, Morante and Moravia met American translator William Weaver, who helped them to find an American audience. Her novel Menzogna e sortilegio was published in the United States as House of Liars in 1951.

Morante's next novel, L'Isola di Arturo, did not come out until 1960. Much of the work she had written in the meantime, she had destroyed, although she did publish a novella, The Andalusian Shawl, and a poem, The Adventure. Her next work, Il Mondo Salvato dai Ragazzini (a mix of poetry, songs and a play) did not appear until 1968.

Morante and Moravia separated in 1961, but Morante continued to write, sporadically. La Storia, a story about Rome during World War II, appeared in 1974, to international acclaim.

Incomplete Bibliography

• Il Gioco Secreto (The Secret Game)
• La Bellisme Avventure Di Cateri Dalla Trecciolina
• Menzogna e Sortilegio House Of Liars
• L'Isola di Arturo (Arturo's Island)
• Alibi
• Le Straordinarie Avventure di Caterina
• Lo Scialle Andaluso The Andalusian Shawl
• Il Mondo Salvato dai Ragazzini The World Saved By Little Children)
• La Storia (History
• Aracoeli
• Pro e Contro la Bomba Atomica
• Opere