1297) Rocco Scotellaro

Rocco Scotellaro (1923 – 1953). Italian writer, poet and politician.
He was born in the rural village of Tricarico, in Basilicata. While studying in Neaples and Bari, he started an intense union activism and joined the Partito Socialista Italiano. In 1946 he was elected mayor of Tricarico. In the same year he met for the first time the economist Manlio Rossi-Doria and Carlo Levi, whom he regarder as his mentor.
In 1950 Manlio Rossi-Doria asked him to carry out an inquiry into the culture and life conditions of people in the south of Italy, which was going to be published by Einaudi. Unfortunately, three years later he died of a heart attack and the inquiry was interrupted.
Most of his works are rooted in the rural society, which he was proud to belong to, and were published posthumously. He wrote mainly poetry, but also a novel, a play and several short stories.
Film director Luchino Visconti paid tribute to Scotellaro by naming after him the main character of his film Rocco e i suoi fratelli. 

- "... il piccolo ragazzo dai capelli rossi, dal viso imberbe di bambino, è il primo sindaco di Tricarico, per volontà dei contadini." [... the small red-haired boy, with a childish beardless face, is the first mayor of Tricarico at the citizens' request.]   http://www.avantionline.it/scrive-luciano-masolinilappassi…/

- "La nota dei capelli rossi del sindaco-poeta è un elemento costante dei ritratti che Levi dedica all’amico..." [The mayor/poet's red hair is a constant of the portraits that Levi dedicate to his friend...]   http://www.giudittalegge.it/2019/03/12/letture-in-rosso/

- "... ecco Scotellaro con i suoi capelli rossi, circondato dai contadini..." [... here's Scotellaro with his red hair, surrounded by peasants...]   https://www.mosaico-cem.it/…/odessa-citta-ebraica-poi-la-lu…

Portrait by Carlo Levi

Portrait by Carlo Levi