Giuseppe Ungaretti
Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experimental trend known as ("Hermeticism"), he was one of the most prominent contributors to 20th century Italian literature. Influenced by symbolism, he was briefly aligned with futurism. Like many futurists, he took an irredentist position during World War I. Ungaretti debuted as a poet while fighting in the trenches, publishing one of his best-known pieces, ("The Joy"). During the interwar period, Ungaretti worked as a journalist with Benito Mussolini (whom he met during his socialist accession), as well as a foreign-based correspondent for and . While briefly associated with the Dadaists, he developed Hermeticism as a personal take on poetry. After spending several years in Brazil, he returned home during World War II, and was assigned a teaching post at the University of Rome, where he spent the final decades of his life and career. Biography Early life Ungaretti was born in Alexandria, Egypt into a family from the Tuscan city of Lucca. Ungaretti's father worked on digging the Suez Canal, where he suffered a