Nicola Chiaromonte
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Nicola Chiaromonte (1905-1972) was an Italian activist and author. In 1934 he fled Italy for France, after opposing Mussolini's fascist government. During the Spanish Civil War, he flew in Andre Malraux's squadron, fighting against fascist supported General Francisco Franco. The character of Scali in Malraux's novel Man's Hope is based on Chiaromonte. After moving to New York in 1941, he took on an important role in the leftist anti-Stalinist intellectual scene of the period, writing for The Nation, The New Republic, Partisan Review, and later, Dwight Macdonald's politics. During the Cold War, he helped found, and served as editor, for the Italian journal Tempo Presente, which was published by the Congress for Cultural Freedom (an organization with silent backing of the CIA). Mary McCarthy was a close friend during his time in US. A foreword to the 1985 edition of Chiaramonte's book of essays The Paradox of History (1970) was written by Joseph Frank, a noted Dostoyevsky scholar.
Selected bibliography (of English Translations):
- The Worm of Consciousness and Other Essays (1977)
- The Paradox of History: Stendhal, Tolstoy, Pasternak, and Others
Citations:
Frances Kiernan, Seeing Mary Plain: A Life of Mary McCarthy, (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000), 754.
Frances Stonor Saunders, The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters, (New York: The New Press, 1999)
