On 6 September 2018 Andrea Camilleri will turn 93. Sicilian by birth and Roman by adoption (he has lived in the capital since the 40s), Camilleri has lived countless lives: known today for his career as a writer, he was also a screenwriter, director, playwright, actor, radio speaker and highly esteemed acting teacher. . Just a few years ago, Rai broadcast an interesting documentary on his career entitled The Master without rules.
Camilleri is a man with whom one could (and would like to) talk endlessly. That hoarse and full voice comes out soft from his mouth like smoke and fills the room, creates whirlwinds of words and caresses everything it touches. That's why those who followed the latest episodes of the Inspector Montalbano, he tuned in to Rai 1 well in advance to be transported by Camilleri himself into the mysteries and crimes of Vigàta. Andrea Camilleri is a multifaceted, ironic man, but above all nostalgic for his Sicily. Let's see together some less known aspects of his life and career.
The dream in the drawer
Andrea Camilleri was born in Porto Empedocle, in the province of Agrigento, and as a child he played on Scala dei Turchi. His father Giuseppe Camilleri was a port company inspector and little Andrea wanted to become a naval officer in Livorno. However, he was hampered by the visual disturbances that affected him from an early age.
Andrea Camilleri was first a poet and then a novelist
Camilleri began writing poetry when he was very young, from 6 to 25 years, then interrupting his poetic activity to devote himself to theater and television. His first poems turned out to be "illegible" because Camilleri did not know how to type correctly. Thanks to the help of the lawyer Fontanazza, director of the Municipal Library of Enna, he participated and won the Florence Prize in 1947. In the same year, his poems were also published in an anthology of young poets edited by Ungaretti.
A bizarre school career
Camilleri had a brief experience in a bishop's college, from 1939 until 1943, when he was expelled because he threw eggs at a crucifix. He attended the "Empedocle" Classical High School in Agrigento, and obtained his high school diploma without taking the exam due to the ongoing bombing. He later enrolled in the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, but without graduating. Finally, from 1949 to 1952, he was a directing student at the “Silvio d'Amico” Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome, where he will teach between 1977 and 1997. Here he will also meet the future interpreter of Salvo Montalbano, Luca Zingaretti.
Montalbano becomes Disney: Topalbano
Perhaps not everyone knows that the famous character of Inspector Montalbano is also present in some issues of Mickey Mouse. The adventures of Topalbano they came out for the first time in the issue of 10 April 2013 by Francesco Artibani and Giorgio Cavazzano. Also present was the character of Patò, completely similar to Camilleri, which takes its name from the novel The disappearance of Patò written in 2000. Topalbano returns with his investigations also in the issues of 9 June 2016 and 30 August 2017.
Montalbano in the world
In addition to being the most followed TV series in Italy, Commissario Montalbano is broadcast in more than 20 countries around the world. Abroad we can therefore run into the episodes of Commissioner Montalbano, broadcast in France since 2000, or theInspector Montalbano, one of the most viewed TV series in the UK in 2016.
Camilleri is the true protagonist of each of his works, from theatrical to editorial. Everything we perceive is struck by his gaze, he arrives "seasoned" with his personality. We find a fragment of the writer in each character, a shadow of his passage in each place he describes. We are witnesses of dialogues that have already taken place in that combination of Italian and Sicilian dialect. Camilleri does not sell books, it gives away authentic journeys by providing us with the exploration kit.
