Franco Cuomo

Franco Cuomo (22 April 1938, Naples – 23 July 2007, Rome) was an Italian journalist and writer.

Best known for his historical novels set in the Middle Ages, he was short-listed twice for the Strega Award (the most prestigious literary prize in Italy), first with "Gunther d'Amalfi, cavaliere templare" (Gunter D’Amalfi, Knight Templar) in 1990 and then "Il Codice Macbeth" in 1997.

Born in Naples, Cuomo earned his degree in law. He then simultaneously worked in journalism and the theatre, moving on fiction and historical studies.

His most recent works included the novels "I sotterranei del cielo", "Il tatuaggio", and "Anime perdute". "Notturno veneziano con messa nera e fantasmi d'amore" and the nonfiction "I dieci" examined the Italian scientists who signed the "Racial Manifesto" in 1938 leading to the introduction of racial laws.

Among his other works of fiction are "I semidei", a spy story set in contemporary Italy with clear references to many of the major figures involved in Tangentopoli inspired by his work as journalist, "Il signore degli specchi" on the life of Nostradamus, and "Scroll" on the legend that Shakespeare may not have been English. He is also the author a five-volume series on the origins of Europe, "Il romanzo di Carlo Magno", and a biography of Rita da Cascia, "Santa Rita degli impossibili". The latter, rejecting a sort of hagiographic stance, instead reconstructs the mystery in which the medieval mystic was involved surrounding the murder of her husband.

His works of nonfiction include works on idleness ("L'ozio"), seduction ("Elogio del libertino"), Oscar Wilde and Victorian era decadentism ("Chi ha guardato negli occhi la bellezza"), the tragedy of Beatrice Cenci and historical themes concerning the formation and influence of the collective imagination, such as "Le grandi profezie" (on prophecies from the dawn of human civilization to the modern age) and on knighthood ("Gli ordini cavallereschi nel mito e nella storia").

He is the author of a vast theatrical body of works, put on stage and abroad by such directors as Carmelo Bene, Maurizio Scaparro, Sergio Fantoni, and Françoise Petite. Among the latter are: "Faust o Margherita" (with Carmelo Bene), "Romeo e Giulietta" (with Carmelo Bene and Roberto Lerici), "Compagno Gramsci", "Il caso Matteotti", "Caterina delle misericordie" (Premio Riccione), "Nerone" (Premio Idi), "Giovanna d'Arco e Gilles de Rais" (Premio Vallecorsi), "Addio amore" (Beatrice Cenci) (Premio Fondi), "Una notte di Casanova" (Premio Flaiano) and the recent "Gladiator". Among the awards he won are: the Fregene Prize for journalism (1984), the Premio per la Cultura della Presidenza del Consiglio (1989), the Ravello (1990), the Vanvitelli (1995), and the Blow In (1997).

He translated "Utopia" by Thomas More and numerous classics for stage productions including "Cyrano de Bergerac" and Albert Camus’ "Caligula", directed by Maurizio Scaparro, as well as works by Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson, Plautus and Musset.

He worked with public broadcaster RAI and was in charge of (or worked as consultant for) a wide variety of radio and television programmes dealing with cultural topics ("L'occhio sul teatro and Magico e nero for Videosapere") and ones appealing to a more general audience ("Cararai", "Cronache del cinema e del teatro", "Obbiettivo Europa" and "Cineteatro").

Over his life he was on the editorial staff of a number of newspapers and periodicals as special correspondent, critic and editor-in-chief of culture sections, as well as co-director of magazines ("Fiera" and "Achab") and author of monographs for specialized magazines ("Medioevo" and "Ulisse 2000").

He frequently appeared as a guest on television programmes on RAI, Mediaset and other broadcasters, taking part in the programmes "Stargate", "Voyageur", "Unomattina", "Maurizio Costanzo", "Top Secret" and "SpecialestoriaTG1", as well as others.

He died in Rome on 23 July 2007 at the age of 69.