Andrea Camilleri

Encyclopedia

Andrea Calogero Camilleri  Italian pronunciation: ; 6 September 1925 – 17 July 2019 was an Italian writer.

Biography

Originally from Porto Empedocle, Girgenti, Sicily, Camilleri began university studies in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Palermo, but did not complete his degree; meanwhile he published poems and short stories.

From 1948 to 1950 he studied stage and film direction at the Silvio D’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts (Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica) and began to take on work as a director and screenwriter, directing especially plays by Pirandello and Beckett. His parents knew, and were, reportedly, “distant friends” of, Pirandello, as he tells in his essay on Pirandello, Biography of the Changed Son. His most famous works, the Montalbano series, show many Pirandellian elements: for example, the wild olive tree that helps Montalbano think is on stage in his late work The Giants of the Mountain.

With RAI, Camilleri worked on several TV productions, such as Le inchieste del commissario Maigret with Gino Cervi. In 1977 he returned to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, holding the chair of Film Direction and occupying it for 20 years.

In 1978 Camilleri wrote his first novel Il Corso Delle Cose (“The Way Things Go”). This was followed by Un Filo di Fumo (“A Thread of Smoke”) in 1980. Neither of these works enjoyed any significant amount of popularity.

In 1992, after a long pause of 12 years, Camilleri once more took up novel writing. A new book, La Stagione della Caccia (“The Hunting Season”) turned out to be a best-seller.

In 1994 Camilleri published the first in a long series of novels: La forma dell’Acqua (The Shape of Water) featured the character of Inspector Montalbano, a fractious Sicilian detective in the police force of Vigàta, an imaginary Sicilian town. The series is written in Italian but with a substantial sprinkling of Sicilian phrases and grammar. The name Montalbano is a homage to the Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán; the similarities between Montalban’s Pepe Carvalho and Camilleri’s fictional detective are noteworthy. Both writers make use of their protagonists’ gastronomic preferences.

This feature provides an interesting quirk which has become something of a fad among his readership even in mainland Italy. The TV adaptation of Montalbano’s adventures, starring Luca Zingaretti, further increased Camilleri’s popularity to such a point that in 2003 Camilleri’s home town, Porto Empedocle – on which Vigàta is modelled – took the extraordinary step of changing its official name to that of Porto Empedocle Vigàta, no doubt with an eye to capitalising on the tourism possibilities thrown up by the author’s work. On his website, Camilleri refers to the engaging and multi-faceted character of Montalbano as a “serial killer of characters,” meaning that he has developed a life of his own and demands great attention from his author, to the demise of other potential books and different personages. Camilleri added that he wrote a Montalbano novel every so often just so that the character would be appeased and allow him to work on other stories.

In 2012, Camilleri’s The Potter’s Field (translated by Stephen Sartarelli) was announced as the winner of the 2012 Crime Writers’ Association International Dagger. The announcement was made on 5 July 2012 at the awards ceremony held at One Birdcage Walk in London.

In his last years Camilleri lived in Rome where he worked as a TV and theatre director. About 10 million copies of his novels have been sold to date and are becoming increasingly popular in the UK (where BBC Four broadcast the Montalbano TV series from mid-2011), Australia and North America.

In addition to the degree of popularity brought him by the novels, Andrea Camilleri became even more of a media icon thanks to the parodies aired on an RAI radio show, where popular comedian, TV host and impressionist Fiorello presents him as a raspy voiced, caustic character, madly in love with cigarettes and smoking, since in Italy, Camilleri was well known for being a heavy smoker of cigarettes. He considered himself a “non-militant atheist”.

On 17 June 2019, Camilleri suffered a heart attack. He was admitted to hospital in a critical condition. He died on 17 July 2019. He has been buried in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome.

Recognitions

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  • 1998 Nino Martoglio International Book Award.
  • 2003 Grand Officer in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana).
  • 2008 RBA Prize for Crime Writing for La rizzagliata / La muerte de Amalia Sacerdote (“The Death of Amalia Sacerdote”), the world’s most lucrative crime fiction prize at €125,000.
  • Asteroid 204816 Andreacamilleri, discovered by Italian amateur astronomer Vincenzo Casulli in 2007, was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 5 October 2017 (M.P.C. 106503).

Honorary degrees

He received a number of honorary degrees from several Italian universities, among which are the IULM University of Milan (2002), the University of Pisa (2005), the University of L’Aquila (2007), and the D’Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara (2007). In 2012 he received an honorary PhD from the Sapienza University of Rome.

Camilleri also received honorary degrees from University College Dublin on 5 December 2011 and the American University of Rome on 30 October 2013.

Bibliography

Inspector Salvo Montalbano (1994–2020)

(excluding short stories)

Montalbano Series
Italian title Year of Italian
publication		 Italian
publisher		 Year of English
publication		 English title English publisher Year of Spanish
publication		 Spanish title Spanish publisher
La forma dell’acqua 1994 Sellerio 2002 The Shape of Water Picador 2002 La forma del agua Salamandra
Il cane di Terracotta 1996 Sellerio 2002 The Terracotta Dog Picador 1999 El perro de Terracota Salamandra
Il ladro di merendine 1996 Sellerio 2003 The Snack Thief Picador 2000 El ladrón de meriendas Salamandra
La voce del violino 1997 Sellerio 2003 The Voice of the Violin Picador 2000 La voz del violín Salamandra
Gita a Tindari 2000 Sellerio 2005 Excursion to Tindari Picador 2001 La excursión a Tindari Salamandra
L’odore della notte 2001 Sellerio 2005 The Scent of the Night Picador 2003 El olor de la noche Salamandra
Il giro di boa 2003 Sellerio 2006 Rounding the Mark Picador 2004 Un giro decisivo Salamandra
La pazienza del ragno 2004 Sellerio 2007 The Patience of the Spider Picador 2006 La paciencia de la araña Salamandra
La luna di carta 2005 Sellerio 2008 The Paper Moon Picador 2007 La luna de papel Salamandra
La vampa d’agosto 2006 Sellerio 2009 August Heat Picador 2009 Ardores de Agosto Salamandra
Le ali della sfinge 2006 Sellerio 2009 The Wings of the Sphinx Penguin Books 2009 Las alas de la Esfinge Salamandra
La pista di sabbia 2007 Sellerio 2010 The Track of Sand Penguin Books 2010 La pista de arena Salamandra
Il campo del vasaio 2008 Sellerio 2011 The Potter’s Field Penguin Books 2011 El campo del alfarero Salamandra
L’età del dubbio 2008 Sellerio 2012 The Age of Doubt Penguin Books 2012 La edad de la duda Salamandra
La danza del gabbiano 2009 Sellerio 2013 The Dance of the Seagull Penguin Books 2012 La danza de la gaviota Salamandra
La caccia al tesoro 2010 Sellerio 2013 Treasure Hunt Penguin Books 2013 La búsqueda del tesoro Salamandra
Il sorriso di Angelica 2010 Sellerio 2014 Angelica’s Smile Penguin Books 2013 La sonrisa de Angélica Salamandra
Il gioco degli specchi 2011 Sellerio 2015 Game of Mirrors Penguin Books 2014 Juego de espejos Salamandra
Una lama di luce 2012 Sellerio 2015 A Beam of Light Penguin Books 2015 Un filo de luz Salamandra
Una voce di notte 2012 Sellerio 2016 A Voice in the Night Penguin Books 2016 Una voz en la noche Salamandra
Un covo di vipere 2013 Sellerio 2017 A Nest of Vipers Penguin Books 2017 Un nido de víboras Salamandra
La piramide di fango 2014 Sellerio 2018 The Pyramid of Mud Penguin Books 2018 La pirámide de fango Salamandra
La giostra degli scambi 2015 Sellerio 2019 The Overnight Kidnapper Penguin Books 2019 El carrusel de las confusiones Salamandra
L’altro capo del filo 2016 Sellerio 2019 The Other End of the Line Penguin Books 2020 Tirar del hilo Salamandra
La rete di protezione 2017 Sellerio 2020 The Safety Net Penguin Books
Il metodo Catalanotti 2018 Sellerio 2020 The Sicilian Method Penguin Books
Il cuoco dell’Alcyon 2019 Sellerio 2021 The Cook of the Halcyon Penguin Books
Riccardino (it) 2020 Sellerio

Other

(including Montalbano’s short stories)

  • Le Arancine di Montalbano (1999) ISBN 88-04-46972-2
  • Biografia di un figlio cambiato (2000) ISBN 88-17-86612-1
  • Il birraio di Preston (1995) ISBN 88-389-1098-7
  • La bolla di componenda (1993)
  • La concessione del telefono (1998) ISBN 88-389-1344-7
  • La concessione del telefono: versione teatrale dell’omonimo romanzo (2005) ISBN 88-7796-265-8
  • Il corso delle cose (1978; revised edition, 1998) ISBN 88-389-1472-9
  • Il diavolo: tentatore, innamorato (2005) ISBN 88-7989-960-0
  • Favole del tramonto (2000) ISBN 88-86772-22-X
  • Un filo di fumo (1980)
  • Il gioco della mosca (1995) ISBN 88-389-1193-2
  • Gocce di Sicilia (2001) ISBN 88-86772-08-4 (Texts originally published in the Almanacco dell’Altana between 1995 and 2000.)
  • Le inchieste del commissario Collura (2002) ISBN 88-7415-002-4
  • La linea della palma: Saverio Lodato fa raccontare Andrea Camilleri (2002) ISBN 88-17-87050-1
  • Il medaglione (2005) ISBN 88-04-55027-9
  • Un mese con Montalbano (1998) ISBN 88-04-44465-7 (Thirty short stories)
  • Montalbano a viva voce (2002) ISBN 88-04-50974-0 (Two audio CDs)
  • La mossa del cavallo (1999) ISBN 88-17-86083-2
  • L’ombrello di Noe (2002) ISBN 88-17-87011-0
  • Le parole raccontate: piccolo dizionario dei termini teatrali (2001) ISBN 88-17-86888-4
  • La paura di Montalbano (2002) ISBN 88-04-50694-6 (Six short stories)
  • The Fourth Secret (2014), a short story taken from La paura di Montalbano
  • La Pensione Eva: romanzo (2006) ISBN 88-04-55434-7
  • La presa di Macallè (2003) ISBN 88-389-1896-1 (Novel in the dialect of Sicily)
  • La prima indagine di Montalbano (2004) ISBN 88-04-52983-0
  • Privo di titolo (2005) ISBN 88-389-2030-3
  • Racconti quotidiani (2001) ISBN 88-900411-4-5
  • Il re di Girgenti (2001) ISBN 88-389-1668-3
  • Romanzi storici e civili (2004) ISBN 88-04-51929-0
  • La scomparsa di Patò: romanzo (2000) ISBN 88-04-48412-8
  • Hunting Season (2014) La stagione della caccia (1992, 1998) ISBN 88-389-1018-9
  • Storie di Montalbano (2002) ISBN 88-04-50427-7
  • La strage dimenticata (1997) ISBN 88-389-1388-9
  • I teatri stabili in Italia (1898–1918) (1959)
  • Teatro (2003)
  • La testa ci fa dire: dialogo con Andrea Camilleri (2000) ISBN 88-389-1568-7
  • Vi racconto Montalbano: interviste (2006) ISBN 88-7981-302-1
  • Il colore del sole (2007)
  • Le pecore ed il pastore (2007)
  • La novella di Antonello da Palermo (2007)
  • Voi non sapete (2007)
  • Maruzza Musumeci (2007)
  • Il tailleur grigio (2008)
  • Il casellante (2008)
  • La muerte de Amalia Sacerdote (2008), La muerte de Amalia Sacerdote (Spanish) ISBN 978-8490565063
  • Un sabato, con gli amici (2009)
  • Il sonaglio (2009)
  • La rizzagliata (2009)
  • La tana delle vipere (2009)
  • Il nipote del Negus (2010) ISBN 88-389-2453-8
  • L’intermittenza (2010) ISBN 978-88-04-59842-8
  • Noli me tangere (2016) ISBN 978-88-04-66187-0
  • Ora dimmi di te (2018) ISBN 978-88-4529-7755, Háblame de ti. Carta a Matilda (Spanish) ISBN 978-8498389692