The writer Raffaele La Capria died in Rome: he was 99 years old and one of the most significant voices in Italian literature of the second half of the 20th century. In 1961 he had won the Strega Prize with “Ferito a morte”, a portrait of Naples and a generation followed with complex temporal changes over the span of a decade. He received the Campiello Award (2001), the Chiara Award (2002), the Alabarda d’oro Award (2011) and the Brancati Award (2012) for his career. In 2005 he had won the Viareggio Prize for the collection of memorial writings. “The daily inspiration”.
With his work as a narrator, La Capria recounted the vices and virtues of his Naples, where he was born on October 3, 1922. In addition to being a writer, La Capria was a journalist, collaborator of various magazines and newspapers including “Il Mondo” , “Tempo presente” and the “Corriere della Sera” and from 1990 was co-editor of the literary magazine “Nuovi Argomenti”. He spent long periods in France, England and the United States, before settling in Rome.
He has collaborated with Rai as an author of radio plays and has written for the cinema, co-writing many films by Francesco Rosi, including “Le mani sulla città” (1963) and “Men contro” (1970) and has collaborated with Lina Wertmüller at the screenplay for the film “Ferdinand and Carolina” (1999). He is the author of numerous novels, including “A day of impatience” (1952), “Amore e psiche” (1973), “La neve del Vesuvio” (1988), “L’amorosa investigation” (2006); essays, such as “Literature and somersaults” (1990), “The eye of Naples” (1994), “The fly in the bottle” (1996), “Napolitan Graffiti” (1998), The style of the duck (2001) and the essay-interview “Me seen by himself. Interviews 1970-2001 on the craft of writing” (2002). He has also translated plays for the theater of authors such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Cocteau, TS Eliot, George Orwell. Raffaele La Capria was married to actress Ilaria Occhini, who passed away on 20 July 2019, who was the nephew of the writer Giovanni Papini. From his wife he had his daughter Alexandra La Capria, ex-wife of Francesco Venditti.