The Leopard

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896–1957) was an Italian nobleman, writer, and intellectual best known for his novel The Leopard (Il Gattopardo). Tomasi was born on December 23, 1896, in Palermo, Sicily, into an ancient and aristocratic family. He was the last Prince of Lampedusa and Duke of Palma di Montechiaro. His father, Giulio Maria Tomasi, was a stern and traditional Sicilian nobleman, while his mother, Beatrice Mastrogiovanni Tasca Filangeri di Cutò, was an intellectual woman who greatly influenced his early education. Raised in a privileged but somewhat isolated environment, Tomasi was deeply attached to the family’s grand estates and the traditions of Sicilian nobility, motifs that would later pervade his writing. Educated primarily at home, he developed a love for literature, history, and languages. He was particularly influenced by the works of Stendhal, Proust, and Shakespeare. In his early adulthood, he briefly attended the University of Rome but was soon called to serve in World War I. Captured during the war, he was imprisoned in Hungary before escaping and returning to Italy.

After the war, Tomasi lived a relatively quiet life, traveling extensively throughout Europe, particularly in France and England. In 1932, he married Alexandra Wolff-Stomersee, a Latvian-born psychoanalyst, but the marriage was often strained due to their differing temperaments and interests.