Andrea Zanzotto

Andrea Zanzotto (1921–2011) was born in Pieve di Soligo, a small village in the hilly farm country of the Veneto, a region in northern Italy. He studied literature in Padua, took part in the resistance during the Second World War, worked for two years in Switzerland and France after hostilities had ended, and then returned to Pieve di Soligo, where he worked as a teacher. He is widely considered one of the most important poets in Europe. His many works include IX Ecloghe (IX Eclogues), Sull’altopiano: racconti e prose 1942–1954 (On the upland plain: stories and other writings 1942–1954), La beltà (Beauty), Pasque (Easters), Il Galateo in bosco (A woodland book of manners), Idioma (Idiom), and Sovrimpressioni (Superimpressions). [Photo credit: courtesy of El Pais]