BRUNO MAZZONI

BRUNO MAZZONI (b. 1946, Naples) studied Romanic  philology at “Federico II” University of Naples, which he graduated in 1969. In 1967 he received a scholarship at the summer courses in Sinaia, organized by Boris Cazacu, and during the third year he decided to do a research related to Romania for the diploma thesis about Ideology and Language at the Transylvanian School – a subject almost unknown in Italy. Between 1970 and 1973, he was an Italian lecturer at the University of Bucharest and a lecturer at the University of Cluj. Travelling from Bucharest to Cluj and back, between two universities with different backgrounds, between the famous Echinox magazine and the Writers’ Union, has brought him closer to the Romanian culture. So he discovered a country where literature was essential, it was a genuine necessity, which was not the case for Italy. In Romania he saw queues at the bookstores when selling poems by Marin Sorescu, Ana Blandiana or Nichita Stănescu. Currently, he teaches Romanian language and literature at the University of Pisa, where he is the dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages. He is Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Bucharest and was awarded by the President of the Italian Republic for his work as a translator, in 2005. He has translated into Italian several volumes written by Mircea Cărtărescu, Ana Blandiana, Max Blecher, and published studies about Tudor Arghezi, Ion Barbu and Nichita Stănescu. For 20 years, he has not engaged in translation, because in Italy there is the idea that a university professor should dedicate himself exclusively to research. Over time, he realized that in order to promote a culture, one needs to get involved, to be part of the publishing network and to submit book proposals to editors. He currently lives in Rome.