Ugo Antonio Amico

Ugo Antonio Amico
Bust of Ugo Antonio Amico
Born(1831-09-06)September 6, 1831
Erice, Sicily
DiedApril 24, 1917(1917-04-24) (aged 85)
OccupationPoet; essayist; educator
LanguageItalian
NationalityItalian
RelativesAntonio Pizzuto (grandson)

Ugo Antonio Amico (6 September 1831 – 24 April 1917) was a poet, humanist and educator from Erice, Sicily.

Works

He is best known for three books about his hometown and Sicilian culture:

  • Elegie ericine (Firenze: G. Barbera, 1892), a cycle of poems about Erice.[1]
  • Cronistoria ericina dal 1848 al 1860 (Palermo: Boccone del povero, 1910), a straightforward local chronicle of the Risorgimento years.[2]
  • Leggende popolari ericine (Palermo: Boccone del povero, 2nd ed., 1914), a collection of traditional stories and beliefs.[3]

Life

Amico was born in Monte San Giuliano (now Erice) on 6 September 1831. He first studied at the Seminary of Mazara, then studied literature in Palermo.[4] He taught in secondary schools in Pisa, Florence and Palermo, and served as a libero docente (free lecturer) in Italian literature at the University of Palermo from 1893 to 1898.[5]

He is commemorated with a bronze bust in the Balio Gardens at Erice.[6] His daughter Maria was the mother of the novelist Antonio Pizzuto.[7]

References

  1. ^ Amico, Ugo Antonio (1892). Elegie ericine (in Italian). Firenze: Tip. di G. Barbera – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ "Cronistoria ericina dal 1848 al 1860". HathiTrust Catalog (in Italian). 1910. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  3. ^ Amico, Ugo Antonio (1914). Leggende popolari ericine (in Italian) (2 ed.). Boccone del povero. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Uomini illustri ericini" (PDF). TrapaniNostra (in Italian). p. 8. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  5. ^ Rosi, Michele. "Appunti personali (1901–1933)" (PDF) (in Italian). University College London (digitised notes). p. 227. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  6. ^ "AL BALIO, tra busti e iscrizioni" (PDF). TrapaniNostra (in Italian). Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  7. ^ Galvagno, Rosalba. "PIZZUTO, Antonio". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 1 October 2025.