AMICLS, EDMONDO DE (1846—) .
One of the most popular of living Italian authors. He was born at Oneglia, in Liguria, October 21, 1846. In 1861 he graduated from the military academy at Modena, with the rank of sub-lieu tenant. and five years afterward participated in the battle of Custozza. For a while he edited a Florentine journal, L'Italia and sub sequently took part in the Roman occupation of 1870; but having achieved some success with a volume of sketches of army life, Bozzetti (1868), he abandoned both the military and the journal istic career, and undertook a series of voyages to England, Holland, Spain, Africa, Turkey, and South America. Almost all these gave him material for brilliant and widely popular vol umes of travel, such as La Npagna ( 1S73), Ricor di di Lond•a (1874), L'Olanda (1874), Morocco (1875), and Constantinopoli (1877). These vol umes have been translated into many languages. They show a keen power of observation, a genial humor, and a broad spirit of tolerance, which would justify their populurity even without the warm coloring and glowing vividness of descrip tion, in which respect his style challenges com parison with that of Theophile Gautier. Other writings include llitratti letterari (1881), a series of personal impressions of well-known writers, including Zola and Dumas fits; a sym pathetic and semi-humorous volume on friend ship, Gli Amici (1882), and a number of his torical novelettes, collected under the title, Alle po•te (1SSS). Of recent years De Amieis
has become deeply interested in educational and economic questions, and in many ways his great est literary success is a simple little volume, II enure ("The Heart of a Boy"), intended pri marily for children, and recording the events of a single school year as told from day to day by one of the pupils. In Italy, it is nearing its two hundredth thousand. Educational prob lems have also given De Amicis his subject for his more serious attempt at fiction, La »urstrina dcgli ope•ai (1895). and II romanzo (rum norstro (1895). The last-named volume shows a strong socialistic tendency, which he has since openly avowed. "As a fountain of literary in spiration." he said recently, "socialism seems to one most valuable. Since the last outbreak of patriotism and of patriotic literature in Italy, we have had on sort of vital literature. But socialism will give it to us." His latest volumes are La ca•ot'za di tutti (1899)• Mcmo•ie (1899), Speranza e gloric (1900), Ricordi d'infanzia c di. seuola (1901).