A native of
Turin, Soldati attended the
Liceo Sociale, a
Jesuit school, and finished secondary school at age 17. He then studied humanities at the
University of Turin. At that time, the university was a hotbed of intellectual activity and the young Soldati met and befriended the likes of activist and writer
Carlo Levi and journalist
Giacomo Debenedetti, who were his seniors. He later studied History of Art at the University of Rome. He started publishing novels in 1929. He achieved the widest notice with
America primo amore, published in 1935, a memoir of the time he spent teaching at
Columbia University. He won literary awards for his work, most notably the
Strega Prize for
Lettere da Capri in 1954. Also interested in film, Soldati began directing in 1938. His most well-known films are
Piccolo mondo antico (1941) and
Malombra (1942) with
Isa Miranda, both based on novels by
Antonio Fogazzaro. These two films belong to the early 1940s movement in
Italian cinema known as
calligrafismo. Other popular films were
Eugenie Grandet, based on
Balzac's novel, with
Alida Valli;
Fuga in Francia (1948);
The River Girl (starring
Sophia Loren), and
La provinciale (starring
Gina Lollobrigida). Soldati also regularly published articles in Italian newspapers, including
Il Mondo,
Il Corriere della Sera, ''
La Stampa,
Avanti,
L'Unità and Il Giorno''. Soldati died at
Lerici in 1999. He was 92. ==Legacy and honours==