: As a young man, Bassani was torn between passions—he was a talented pianist and a competitive tennis player before literature took hold.
: Far from being a passive observer, he became a "free intellectual" under the influence of philosopher Benedetto Croce , eventually joining the anti-fascist resistance and serving time in prison in 1943. The Architect of Ferrara Giorgio Bassani
: In 1938, Mussolini’s Racial Laws shattered his life. He was expelled from his tennis club and banned from the university, though he managed to graduate in secret. : As a young man, Bassani was torn
Giorgio Bassani ’s life was a masterclass in how memory can be used to preserve a world that history tried to erase. Born in 1916 to a prosperous Jewish family, Bassani grew up in the misty, quiet city of , a place that would eventually become the singular stage for almost all his writing. He was expelled from his tennis club and