History can be unfair in its selection of those judged worthy of remembrance and those consigned to oblivion. One of the casualties of History’s amnesia, Lauro de Bosis, deserves to be rescued from neglect. Lauro de Bosis deserves to be rescued from neglect. A gifted young poet born in 1901 into a cultured household in Italy where his father was one of Italy’s leading poets of the age of Decadentism, he grew up to love Shelley and the Greeks. As a young man he wrote a drama on Icarus which was awarded the poetry prize at the Amsterdam Olympic Games. He fell passionately in love with Ruth Draper, then an internationally famous writer performer. However, these were the days of Mussolini’s rise to power and although he was initially sympathetic, his work in America for Italian cultural bodies led to a radical change of heart over Fascism. He established the National Alliance to oppose the regime by circulating critical letters, but when his colleagues were arrested, he chose to operate alone. In 1931, he flew alone over Rome dropping anti-fascist propaganda, while being also aware he was repeating the flight of Icarus. He had insufficient fuel for the return journey and was lost in the Mediterranean, like Icarus. This book looks at the man, his personal culture, his literary work and that of Ruth Draper and above all his activities as an anti-Fascist.
