Ugo Betti

Who was Ugo Betti?

Ugo Betti was an Italian judge, better known as an author, who is considered by many the greatest Italian playwright next to Pirandello.

Betti studied law in Parma at the time when World War I broke out, and he volunteered as a soldier. After the war he finished his studies and became a judge. Writing in his spare time, he published his first collections of poems in 1922. These, titled Il re pensieroso, were written while he was in German captivity from 1917 to 18. La Padrona, his first play, was first performed in 1927, and the play's success made him devote himself entirely to the theatre. In 1931 he moved from Parma to Rome. In 1938 he was accused by the fascists of being a Jew and an anti-fascist. After World War II, he was accused of being a fascist, but was cleared of all charges. In his later years, he worked at the library of the Ministry of Justice.

Altogether he wrote 27 plays, the most highly regarded written in the final period of his career, from 1940 until his death. His works explore the nature of evil, the existential guilt experienced by his protagonists, and the theme of redemption. Sometimes referred to as "the Italian Kafka", the criminal investigation is a characteristic motif in his plays. In The Inquiry, the procedure moves gradually from the realistic to the metaphysical level, without it ever being clearly revealed what the object of the investigation is. His best-known play is probably Corruzione al Palazzo di Giustizia. In it, an investigation into the possibility of corruption in the judiciary implicates more and more people, until the investigator himself is driven to address his own culpability.