Ercole Patti

Ercole Patti ( 16 February 1903 – 15 November 1976) was an Italian author, dramatist, screenwriter and journalist.

Ercole Patti
Born	16 February 1903 Catania
Died	15 November 1976 (aged 73) Rome
Occupation	author

Born in Catania into an upper-middle-class family, the nephew of author Giuseppe Villaroel, Patti started working as a journalist at very young age, before graduating in law in 1925.[1] After practicing for a year in his father's firm, he decided to move to Rome where earning a living from journalism.[1] There, after some sporadic collaborations, he was employed in the newspaper Gazzetta del Popolo, where he was a foreign correspondent in China, India and Japan, among other places.[1] He got notoriety as a novelist in 1940, with Quartieri alti, a satirical portrait of Roman high classes.[1] His novels are mainly set in Rome or in a sensual Sicily, which was, according to literary critic Carlo Bo, a sort of philosophical ideal for Patti.[1]

Patti was active as a screenwriter since 1935, and a number of his novels were adapted into films. In addition to novels Patti published collections of short stories and two autobiographical works.[2]

Selected filmography

• But It's Nothing Serious (1936)
• A Woman Has Fallen (1941)
• That Splendid November (1969)
• La cugina (1974)

References

1. l. m. (16 November 1976). "La scomparsa di Ercole Patti". La Stampa (252). p. 3.
2. Raul Radice (27 November 1976). "Patti, o l'ottimismo" (46). TuttoLibri. p. 5.

Further reading

• Enzo Lauretta. Invito alla lettura di Ercole Patti. Mursia, 1975.
• Giovanni Scalia. I romanzi di Ercole Patti: saggi di psicocritica. Bonanno, 1982.
• Sarah Zappulla Muscarà. Ercole Patti. G. Maimone, 1989. ISBN 8877510250.
• Pietro Frassica. Ercole Patti e altro Novecento siciliano. Interlinea Ed., 2004. ISBN 8882124061.
• Sebastiano Gesù, Laura Maccarrone. Ercole Patti: un letterato al cinema. Maimone, 2004. ISBN 8877512113.