Verga, Giovanni, << VAYR gah, joh VAHN nee >> (1840-1922), was an Italian novelist, playwright, and short-story writer. His style—objective, matter-of-fact, and impersonal, yet highly effective—influenced many later Italian writers.
Verga was born on Sept. 2, 1840, in Catania, Sicily. His best work deals with Sicily and the poverty of its people. In The House by the Medlar Tree (1881), Verga described the struggle of a fishing family to keep their home and integrity despite tragedy and disaster. Verga planned it as the first of five novels describing people’s unsuccessful efforts to improve their lives. The project ended with the second novel, Mastro Don Gesualdo (1889).
Verga’s literary success began in 1866 with the publication of the first of several romantic novels of middle-class life. He also wrote several short stories set in Sicily. His collection Life in the Fields (1880) includes “Cavalleria Rusticana.” This tale became the basis of an opera by Pietro Mascagni. Verga died on Jan. 27, 1922.
