Leonardo Sciascia was born in Racalmuto, in southwestern Sicily, a town he described as his ideal observatory on world events (
La palma va a nord, 99), and where he now lies buried. His life was not rich in external incident. Even though he lived in the heartland of the mafia and attacked them unremittingly in his writings, he was not the victim of mafia aggression. He married, had two daughters, served for eighteen months from 1976 on the Palermo City Council as an independent in the ranks of the Communist party and then in the Chamber of Deputies in Rome for three years from 1979 with the Radical party, but he was essentially a man of letters who saw the world through the prism of books and who contributed to public affairs with his pen. Not far from Racalmuto lies the town of…
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Citation: Farrell, Joseph. "Leonardo Sciascia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 April 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12740, accessed 21 November 2024.]
