Fabrizio De André

Francesco Ciabattoni (Georgetown University)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born 18 Feb 1940
Died 11 Jan 1999
Activity 1960-1999

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy

Activities

Primary

Singer
Song-writer

Resources

De André's Works

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In the pantheon of Italian

cantautori

(singer-songwriters) Fabrizio De André could be compared to Prometheus, who gave humankind the gift of fire – a gift that ultimately enabled mankind to make art. Many

cantautori

since the 1960s have taken a spark from De André’s flame, as he had previously borrowed from Georges Brassens, Leonard Cohen, and other songwriters and poets, always innovating and producing, from their textual or melodic cells, new and original songs. His native port city of Genoa had a very active musical scene in the 1960s, and one could say that the Italian

canzone d’autore

was born there, in the filthy alleys behind this industrial port, almost a gate to the Mediterranean, as the city’s Latin etymology “

janua

” [door] suggests.

Fabrizio’s father, Giuseppe,

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3680 words

Citation: Ciabattoni, Francesco. "Fabrizio De André". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 March 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14134, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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