Biography
Zeichen's origins are somewhat obscure, and his year of birth is dubious. In German language the word Zeichen means "sign", and has been suggested that his true name would be Giuseppe Mario Moses, an almost certainly Jewish surname. Zeichen, however, denies this theory.
Born in Rijeka (then called Fiume), the son of an Italian-speaking Dalmatian gardener, Zeichen moved with all his family to Parma as a refugee. In 1950 they moved to Rome, where Zeichen currently still lives in a self-made house next to Via Flaminia.
He began to write poems at the age of 18, influenced by surrealist authors like Breton and Prévert. His first work was published in 1969 on the literary review Nuova Corrente. Zeichen's first novel, Tana per tutti, was released in 1983.
Zeichen's poetry has been praised for his quick catch on the reader, and the subtle sense of humour underlining it. He is considered among the finests poets today in Europe. A literary award entitled to him, the Premio Zeichen, is held every December in Rome: Zeichen himself is the only member of the jury.
Read more about this topic: Valentino Zeichen
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”
—Rebecca West [Cicily Isabel Fairfield] (1892–1983)
“As we approached the log house,... the projecting ends of the logs lapping over each other irregularly several feet at the corners gave it a very rich and picturesque look, far removed from the meanness of weather-boards. It was a very spacious, low building, about eighty feet long, with many large apartments ... a style of architecture not described by Vitruvius, I suspect, though possibly hinted at in the biography of Orpheus.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)