Ignazio Buttitta

Ignazio Buttitta (19 September 1899 – 5 April 1997) was an Italian poet who wrote predominantly in Sicilian.

Ignazio Buttitta
Ignazio Buttitta in 1986
Born	19 September 1899 Bagheria, Italy
Died	5 April 1997 (aged 97)
Occupation	Poet

Biography

Born at Bagheria, Italy into a merchant's family, after having taken part in World War I Buttitta joined the Italian Socialist Party and around this time started to write poetry in Sicilian. His first volume of poetry published was Sintimintali (Sentimental), followed in 1928 by Marabedda. Soon after, Buttitta relocated to Milan, where he achieved some success in the commercial world while continuing to pursue his passion for literature. Due to his political leanings, he had to leave Milan during World War II; after which he joined the Resistance, was jailed by the fascists, and narrowly avoided the death penalty, before returning to Milan, where he spent time with Sicilian intellectuals such as Elio Vittorini, Salvatore Quasimodo and Renato Guttuso. In 1954 he published his new book of poetry, Lu pani si chiama pani (The bread is called bread), financed by the Italian Communist Party. In this volume he defined himself as Pueta e latru (Poet and thief), an allusion to the manner in which he would pass among the people like a thief, appropriating their feelings, leaving behind a sentimental thread. This was especially the case in relation to his nostalgia for his homeland, but there are also more socially-oriented themes, in particular, protests against the social situation of Italy and Sicily, such as A stragi di Purtedda (1947, about Salvatore Giuliano and the Portella della Ginestra massacre), and Lamentu per la morte di Turiddu Carnevale (1956, about Salvatore Carnevale - a Sicilian trade unionist from Sciara who was killed by the Mafia on 16 May 1955 - and his mother Francesca Serio).

In 1964 cantastorie and folk singer-songwriter Otello Profazio set to music several Buttitta's poems in the album Il treno del sole (also known as Profazio Canta Buttitta).[1] In 1972 Buttitta won the Viareggio Prize, for the volume Io faccio il poeta (I am a poet). His works have been translated into French, Russian and Greek.

Buttitta, during his career as a poet, has never hidden his pride in being Sicilian, and his love for the language of the island. In one of his most famous poems, Lingua e dialettu (Language and dialect), he explicitly talks about language as a key issue for his people, and implores his fellows Sicilians to preserve their language:

Un populu diventa poviru e servu quannu ci arrubbanu a lingua addutata di patri: è persu pi sempri.	A people becomes poor and servile when their language is stolen from them inherited from their forefathers: it is lost forever.

A contemporary Berlin-based Sicilian folk singer, Etta Scollo, celebrates the work of Sicilian folk singer and Buttitta associate, Rosa Balistreri, including rendering a version of Buttitta's The Pirates of Palermo:

Arrivaru li navi Tanti navi a Palermu Li pirati sbarcaru Cu li facci d’infernu N’arrubbaru lu suli, lu suli Arristamu a lu scuru, chi scuru Sicilia chianci! Tuttu l’oru a l’aranci Li pirati arrubbaru Li campagni spugghiati Cu la negghia lassaru N’arrubbaru lu suli, lu suli Arristamu a lu scuru, chi scuru Sicilia chianci! Li culura dû mari N’arrubbaru chi dannu Su ‘mpazzuti li pisci Chi lamentu ca fannu N’arrubbaru lu suli, lu suli Arristamu a lu scuru, chi scuru Sicilia chianci! A li fìmmini nostri Ci scipparu di l’occhi La lustrura e lu focu Ca addumava li specchi N’arrubbaru lu suli, lu suli Arristamu a lu scuru, chi scuru Sicilia chianci!

The ships arrive So many ships at Palermo The pirates come ashore With infernal faces They steal from us the sun, the sun We are left in darkness what a darkness Sicily weeps! All the gold of the oranges The pirates steal away Their rapacious campaigns In the fog they create They steal from us the sun, the sun We are left in darkness what a darkness Sicily weeps! The colours of the sea They steal those from us, an outrage! The fish are so crazed As to lament their existence They steal from us the sun, the sun We are left in darkness what a darkness Sicily weeps! From our women's eyes They tear out The splendor and fire Which lit up mirrors They steal from us the sun, the sun We are left in darkness what a darkness Sicily weeps!

References

1. Enrico Deregibus. Dizionario completo della Canzone Italiana. Giunti Editore, 2010. ISBN 8809756258.