Curzio Malaparte

The Profile

Curzio Malaparte (born Kurt Erich Suckert, 1898–1957) was an Italian novelist, essayist, journalist, and war correspondent, best known for Kaputt and La pelle. His writing blends reportage and fiction to dissect war, politics, and Italian identity.

Born in Prato, Tuscany (1898) and died in Rome (1957); pen name of Kurt Erich Suckert; served as a war correspondent and later liaison/press officer in WWII Naples; author of Kaputt (1944) and La pelle (1949); built the notable Casa Malaparte on Capri.

Four reviews spotlight Malaparte’s sharp eye and stomach‑turning honesty: the brutal Naples of La pelle, the philosophical duel of Coppi e Bartali, a fierce love letter to Tuscany, and late reflections from Russia and China. The critics mix admiration with unease, quoting his barbed wit and moral provocations. Themes of identity, faith, and the wreckage of war recur, filtered through Malaparte’s hybrid of reportage and fiction.