Federico De Roberto

Who was Federico De Roberto?

Federico De Roberto was an Italian writer, who became well known for his novel I Vicerè, translated as The Viceroys . He began his writing career as a journalist for national newspapers, where he met Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana, the most prominent writers of the Verismo style. Verga introduced him into the literary circles of Milan. De Roberto authored two books of short stories: La Sorte, Documenti umani. His first novel, Ermanno Raeli, is largely autobiographical; deeper in psychological analysis is the second, L'illusione. In 1894 his novel I Vicerè was published. It was the result of years of hard work, but obtained little success upon its release. Disillusionment and nervous disorders induced De Roberto to resume journalistic work: he became a writer for the Corriere della Sera and the Giornale d'Italia. Only later, after some experience as an playwright, he returned to the novel, with L'Impero, sequel to I Vicerè.