Birth Anniversary: Gabriele d’Annunzio — March 12, 1863

Gabriele d’Annunzio was born at Pescara on 12 March 1863, to Francesco Paolo and Luisa de Benedictis. Poet, novelist, playwright and soldier, he held a place in Italian letters that no contemporary matched, and from the war years he turned his fame into a political instrument, up to the seizure of Fiume in 1919. In 1924 the regime gave him the title of prince of Montenevoso; he was honoured by the new men in power and not loved by them, and in substance set aside. He spent his last years at the Vittoriale, the villa at Cargnacco above Lake Garda that he had bought in 1922 and rebuilt as a museum of himself.

The Istituto Luce archive keeps film of him: at the Vittoriale, at Fiume, and in the documentary made at his death.

Dates verified on the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Treccani).

Full biography on Cultural Heritage Online: Gabriele d’Annunzio (1863–1938).