Biography of Bruno Maier
Bruno Maier lectured on Italian literature at the Faculty of Education of the University of Trieste and was a literary critic and writer.
He was born in Capodistria in 1922, where he completed his classical studies at the local “Combi” secondary school. Registered with the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pisa, in a bid to obtain a less “provincial” course of studies, due to the outbreak of war, in 1944 he transferred to the newly-established Faculty of Literature and Philosophy of the University of Trieste, from where he graduated in 1945 under the guidance of Prof. Ferdinando Pasini, former collaborator of “Voce”; he was later to become his assistant for the Italian literature course. Alongside his academic commitments, Maier also taught at Istria middle school until 1947, the year in which he passed the competition to become an assistant and was assigned to the Course of Italian Language and Literature at the Faculty of Education of the University of Trieste - initially in a temporary position and then as full professor - until 1990, when he retired from his academic career.
Bruno Maier was an ordinary partner of the Arcadia Academy and held numerous important roles in cultural associations of Trieste, including Deputy Chairman of the Minerva Society, the historic institution founded by Domenico Rossetti.
At the Club of Culture and Arts, he coordinated the work of the Humanities Section and was a member of the administrative board.
He was also Chairman of the People’s University of Trieste, established to promote Italian culture in Istria.
Bruno Maier’s research was directed to all areas of general Italian literature, with texts that range from the 1200s to the 1900s. In a parallel fashion, he also paid close attention to the literature of Trieste, Giulia and Istria. He made an essential contribution to knowledge of the work of Italo Svevo, reorganising huge volumes of handwritten materials entrusted to him by Livia Veneziani, the writer’s wife, and over the years curated the publication of the opera omnia.
His critical contributions were dedicated to the poet Umberto Saba.
A collaborator of some of the most important magazines on Italian studies - worthy of note in particular is his joint management, together with Giorgio Baroni, of the prestigious “Rivista di Letteratura Italiana” - he also wrote a great deal for the region's magazines and newspapers.
Amongst Bruno Maier’s many written works, the novel “L’assente” stands out in particular. Published in 1994 and chosen the following year as a finalist work for the Strega Prize, it was then adapted for stage and performed in 1998 in Fiume, in various cities of Istria, Trieste and at the Cividale del Friuli Mittelfest.
Bruno Maier died in Trieste in 2001.
In 2002, in memory of him as lecturer and member, the Club of Culture and Arts organised the meeting “Dal Centro al cerchio e sì dal cerchio al centro. Per Bruno Maier”, followed by a publication offering a complete biography of the scholar.
Works
Redivo D., Bibliografia di Bruno Maier, con una prefazione di Elvio Guagnini, Trieste, 2003
Selected bibliography
AA. VV. “Dal centro al cerchio, e sì dal cerchio al centro. Per Bruno Maier”, atti del Convegno, Trieste 2002
AA. VV., Bruno Maier e i "compositori di vita": un critico e i suoi autori: Mostra documentaria 12 dicembre 2013-31 gennaio 2014, Trieste 2013
External link
Biographic dictionary of Italians
Club of Culture and Arts of Trieste
Publications