Matilde Serao

Matilde Serao was a giant of early 20th century Italian literature as well as a pioneer. She was born in Greece in 1856 to an Italian father and a Greek mother. She devoted herself to a life of constant, disciplined writing. She ran her own newspaper ("Il Giorno") from 1904 until her death in 1927. She was also very prolific in literature, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature on six occasions.

Through her literary efforts, Serao was able to carve a place for herself in disciplines largely dominated by men. In Italy, she became known for her eccentricity and determination, capable of establishing her authority anywhere. It was in Paris, in one of the famous literary salons of the time, that she met Edith Wharton, who was intrigued by the Neapolitan’s acute intelligence and eccentric appearance. Wrote Wharton, “With her strident dress and intonation, she seemed an incongruous figure in that drawing-room where everything was in half-shades and semi-tones, but when she began to speak we had found our master… Her training as a journalist had given her a rough-and-ready knowledge of life, and an experience of public affairs, totally lacking in the drawing-room Corinnes whom she outrivaled in wit and eloquence.”