Manlio Sgalambro

Manlio Sgalambro (Italian: [ˈmanljo zɡaˈlambro]; 9 December 1924 – 6 March 2014) was an Italian philosopher, writer, and poet born in Lentini.

Beginning in 1945, Sgalambro wrote for Prisma, a review directed by Leonardo Grassi. His first philosophical work was Paralipomeni all'irrazionalismo. In 1947, he began studying law at the University of Catania. From 1959 to 1966, he published essays in the periodical of literature Incidenza, starting with Crepuscolo e notte (reprinted in 2011). During this time, he also wrote for the journal Tempo Presente, edited by Nicola Chiaromonte and Ignazio Silone.

In the late 1970s, Sgalambro began developing a more structured body of philosophical writing. At the age of 55, he sent his first book La Morte Del Dole to the editor Adelphi. Adelphi went on to publish several of his works, including Treatise on Impiety, Anatol, On Short Thinking, Theological Dialogue, On Indifference in Matters of society, Consolation, Treatise on Age, De Mundo Pessimo, and Knowledge of the Worst and Of Crime.

During the early 1990s, Sgalambro worked with Fortunata De Martinis to establish a small publishing house based in Catania under De Martinis' own name. Sgalambro's role included managing pamphlets, publishing a pair of works (Dialogo sul comunismo and Contro la musica), and printing some operas by Giulio Cesare Vanini and Julien Benda.

In 1993, during the presentation of a friend's poetry book, he met the musician Franco Battiato. Soon afterwards, Battiato proposed the libretto for the opus Il cavaliere dell'intelletto, about Frederik II of Hohenstaufen.

In 1998, he wrote song lyrics for Patty Pravo (Emma), Fiorella Mannoia (Il movimento del dare), Carmen Consoli (Marie ti amiamo) and Milva (Non conosco nessun Patrizio). In 2000, he published the single La mer, containing the cover of the song by Charles Trenet. In 2001, he published the album Fun Club, produced by Franco Battiato and Saro Cosentino, containing songs including La vie en rose (by Édith Piaf), Moon River (by Henry Mancini) and Me Gustas Tú (by Manu Chao). In 2007, he performed the role of the DC-9 airliner in Pippo Pollina’s opera Ultimo volo ("Last flight"), which addressed the 1980 Ustica massacre. In 2009, he published the single La canzone della galassia, containing a cover of Galaxy Song (taken from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life), sung with the Sardinian-English group Mab.

Sgalambro married in 1963, at the age of 39. He had five children: Elena, Simona, Riccardo, Irene, and Elisa. Faced with declining income from family-owned citrus orchards, he pursued a degree and later worked as a teacher.