Papini, Giovanni

Born Jan. 9, 1881, in Florence; died there July 8, 1956. Italian writer.

Papini’s literary works and his works on public affairs include The Twilight of the Philosophers (1906), Tragic Everyday Life (1906; Russian translation, 1923), and A Finished Man (1912; Russian translation, 1923). These works combine a striving for a renewal of cultural forms and a gift of keen psychological analysis with individualist rebellion and anarchistic tendencies.

In the 1920’s, Papini became a Catholic; later, he accepted Fascism. His work of the 1940’s and 1950’s is dominated by religious themes. Other books by Papini include The Living Dante (1933) and The Life of Michelangelo and the Life of His Times (1949).