His publisher, Adelphi Edizioni, thanked him on Twitter for the “countless expressions of condolences” that had reached him, adding: “There is still a lot to be said, but in moments like these, awareness is not clear enough to do it, and preference is given the silence. ”Roberto Calasso, the Italian writer and publisher, who had already joined Adelphi Edizioni as a student and was managing director of the publishing house from 1971, died in Milan. Italy's Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini spoke of the fact that with Calasso one of the pillars of the Italian publishing industry was breaking away and described the deceased as an “extraordinary intellectual”. According to the Ansa news agency, Calasso had been sick for some time.The essayist and cultural philosopher, who was born in Florence, celebrated his 80th birthday almost two months ago.
In his essays and books, Calasso dealt with the works of other authors, such as the French poet and writer Charles Baudelaire or the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
In 1989 he received the Nietzsche Prize Premio Internazionale Federico Nietzsche for his Nietzsche edition.
In 2008 he was awarded the Aby Warburg Foundation Science Prize.
His lecture at the time was "Baudelaire and the cult of images".
Calasso's writings have been translated into many European languages.
In Germany he published “Der Traum Baudelaires”, “Die Glut” and most recently in 2019 “The Unnamable Today”. Adelphi Edizioni published the books “Bobi” and “Memè Scianca” shortly before his death.