Born in Rome, the son of the
Nobel Prize winner
Luigi, Pirandello enrolled in the Faculty of Letters at the
Sapienza University, but left his studies in 1915 to enlist as a volunteer in the
World War I. Almost immediately captured from the Austrian army, he remained imprisoned between
Mauthausen and
Planá until the end of the war. In 1933 Pirandello wrote the short story
Giuoca, Pietro!, later credited to his father and used as basis for the film
Steel. In 1935 he released his debut novel
Il muro di casa ("The wall of the house"), which was awarded the
Viareggio Prize. After the death of his father in 1936, Pirandello reconstructed and finalised his father's unfinished drama play
I giganti della montagna, which was staged the same year by
Renato Simoni. In the following years Pirandello went on an intense activity as playwright, alternating dramas and comedies, in particular having critical success with the drama
Un gradino più giù ("One step behind"), which dealt with a family facing the mental handicap of a child. After
World War II Pirandello slowed his activities, with the failure of the
Ardeatine massacre-inspired tragedy
Sacrilegio massimo ("Maximum sacrilege"), staged in 1953 by
Giorgio Strehler at the
Piccolo Teatro in Milan, leaving him profoundly disappointed and deluded. In his later years he wrote a series of monologues for
Paola Borboni, authored some radio dramas, wrote some short stories and revisited some of his early works. He married the musician Maria Olinda Labroca in 1922. Pirandello had three children (Maria Antonietta, Andrea Luigi and Giorgio). He died on 5 February 1972, at the age of 76. == References==