Silone, Ignazio

The pseudonym of Secondo Tranquilli, an Italian author and intellectual, born in Pescina dei Marsi. Silone came from a poor farmer family in the Abruzzi. His father died in 1911, and after the devastating earthquake in Avezzano in 1915, which in 25 seconds destroyed his hometown and claimed 3 500 deaths, he lost his mother and five siblings. The young Silone was forced to give up his studies at a seminary. He became politically engaged early on and joined a group of young socialists in PSI, the Italian Socialist Party, which consisted of both reformists and revolutionaries.