Farewell to Luciano De Crescenzo, the writer who popularized philosophy

Writer and director Luciano De Crescenzo passed away today in Rome after a long illness at the age of 90. Born in Naples on Aug. 18, 1928, De Crescenzo graduated in hydraulic engineering from the Federico II University in Naples and, after working several jobs between Rome and Naples unrelated to his degree, moved to Milan where he began working in the public relations office of IBM. In the meantime, De Crescenzo continued to cultivate his passion for writing: success came in 1977 with Così parlò Bellavista, his debut novel, which offers the reader a cross-section of Naples (and beyond) as seen through the eye of the protagonist, Professor Bellavista, who became famous for his somewhat philosophical lectures.

And philosophy was another great passion of De Crescenzo’s: numerous are his popular essays on the subject. One recalls in particular the History of Philosophy published in several volumes from 1983 to 2004, as well as fortunate titles capable of popularizing the topics of philosophy of all times with merit and lightness, such as Il dubbio (1992), Panta rei (1994), Ordine e disordine (1996), Socrate e compagnia bella (2009), all published (as Così parlò Bellavista) with Mondadori.

De Crescenzo also worked for a long time with cinema and television: in particular, in 1978 he was screenwriter for Sergio Corbucci’s La mazzetta and in 1980 for Renzo Arbore’s Il pap occhio, and then achieved success in this sphere as well with the film adaptation of Così parlò Bellavista, of which he was also director. A total of four titles have been directed by him, all inspired by or based on his books: in addition to the film based on his most successful novel, they include Il mistero di Bellavista, 32 dicembre and Croce e delizia.

For his work as a writer, Luciano De Crescenzo won a Scanno Award in 1977, the Bordighera Palme d’Or in 1978 and the Bancarella Award in 1984, while as a director he won two David di Donatello and two Nastri d’Argento, all in 1985 for his Così parlò Bellavista.

Farewell to Luciano De Crescenzo, the writer who popularized philosophy

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