Stefano Benni died: the writer of Bar Sport was 78 years old

Stefano Benni, one of the best-loved writers, humorist, journalist and playwright in contemporary Italian literature, has passed away at the age of 78. For some years he had retired to private life, marked by a long illness.

The author of epoch-making novels and collections - from Bar Sport to Margherita Dolcevita, from Elianto to Terra! and La compagnia dei celestini - Benni has conquered generations of readers with an ironic, visionary style that is deeply linked to current events. His books, translated into more than thirty languages, have also had great success abroad. Among his most cherished titles, as he often declared, was Blues in Sixteen.

Born in Bologna in 1947, but brought up amidst the landscapes of the Apennines, Benni liked to recount his own upbringing with irony: 'Many parts of my biography are invented, it is a way of defending my privateness', he explained. His nickname of Lupo came from the nights he spent howling in the company of his dogs, a memory that he himself described as 'a beautiful night madness'.

Also versatile in theatre, he had collaborated with Dario Fo and Franca Rame and in 2012 made his drama debut with Le Beatrici, presented at the Spoleto Festival. The following year he signed Il poeta e Mary, a blend of music and words on the social value of art.

In 2017, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, he had dismissed the request for a budget with his usual irony: "I don't feel like budgets. Ask me again in seventy years' time."