Dzorji, Renzo (writer)

Born in the family of a railroad worker and a housewife. Father, an anti-fascist , died in an accident at work. Mother remained a widow with six children. The future writer graduated from school in Verona. He entered the Faculty of Philology of the University of Padua .

During World War II he was forced to interrupt his studies. He joined the Resistance movement , becoming a member of the organization “ ” in the province of Verona . For participation in the partisan movement he was awarded the silver medal " For Military Valor ." At this time, he met with the anti-fascists Licisco Magagnato , , Franco Cingano and and wrote the book “Five Hundred Tons of Salt” ( Italian: Cinquecento quintali di sale ) about the partisan movement in Italy. It was published in 1988 by the Bompiani Publishing House, along with his other wartime tale, “In the Summer of 42nd” ( Italian: L'estate del '42 ). In 1989, for these works he was awarded literary prizes and .

After the liberation of Italy from fascism and Nazism, he became a member of the editorial board of the Svobodnaya Verona newspaper, replacing the Arena newspaper, which fell under a temporary ban due to cooperation with the fascist regime. He joined the Party of Action and joined the editorial board of Novoye Vremya, a local party periodical devoted to the coverage of issues and problems related to national culture. Under the scientific guidance of the poet and translator, Diego Valerie defended his dissertation on the life and work of the French poet Aloysius Bertrand , becoming a master of French literature. From this time until the end of his life he studied French culture.

In 1946, he stopped working with Verona periodicals, due to their neutrality in relation to the constitutional referendum . At the same time, the crisis in the Party of Action led to its collapse. Renzo Dzorji refused to actively participate in politics. In 1947, at the invitation of , he moved to Turin and joined the De Silva publishing house. Here he meets the writers and intellectuals of Primo Levi , , Cesare Pavese , and .

After collaborating with De Silva, for a year he worked in Florence at Nuova Italy with journalist before accepting Adriano Olivetti's offer. He moved to him in Milan and became a member of the editorial board in the Komunita magazine founded by him. Since 1956, he worked at the Komunita Publishing House, also founded by Adriano Olivetti. After the sudden and untimely death of which in 1960, he headed the editorial office of the magazine and publishing house, which lasted until the 80s of the XX century.

Since 1965, he also headed the departments of illustration, design and cultural phenomena at Olivetti. The names of many designers and architects who subsequently earned worldwide recognition were revealed to them. He was responsible for product design and advertising at Olivetti. He initiated a number of cultural programs, including organizing exhibitions and sponsoring restoration. He organized an exhibition of Florentine frescoes saved from the flood and the horses of San Marco, allocated funds for the restoration of the fresco "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci in the chapel of Brancacci.

From 1988 to 2001, he was Secretary General of the Giorgio Chini Foundation in Venice. In 1990, he headed the cultural center at the Palazzo del Te in Mantua .

He is the author of numerous preface, essay and articles, whose interests concerned various fields from literature to sociology, history and theory of art and design.

• “Five Hundred Tons of Salt” ( Italian: Cinquecento quintali di sale ), 1962
• “Summer of the 42nd” ( Italian: L'estate del '42 ), 1988
• “The story is in the plot” ( Italian: Nella trama della storia ), 1990
• “Years of friendship” ( Italian: Gli anni dell'amicizia ), 1991
• “Cesare Beccaria, the tragedy of justice” ( Italian: Cesare Beccaria, il dramma della giustizia ), 1996

• Renzo Zorzi, una vita per l'arte e la cultura (Italian)
• Renzo Zorzi manager e intellettuale (ital.)
• Scrittori: addio a Renzo Zorzi, scopri 'Primo Levi e sostenne Cassola. Aveva 89 anni, dopo il rifiuto di Einaudi pubblico Se questo e 'un uomo (Italian)