MIAMI, United States. — More than a hundred novels were written by the Italian Emilio Salgari; several of them so famous that, in addition to having been read all over the world, they were adapted to film and television. Among the readings of the infanto-juvenile stage, titles such as sandokan, The Black Corsair either Captain Storm They occupy preferential places next to the works of Alexandre Dumas, Mark Twain and Jules Verne, also cult writers during the adolescent stage.
Salgari had an overflowing imagination that helped him compensate for his lack of experience when it came to recounting the adventures of his characters in exotic geographies. Contrary to what could be deduced from his works, and to what he himself used to affirm, he made just one trip in his life and as a passenger. He was never a captain, despite the fact that he called himself such.
The historical and geographical data that appear in his works are generally not reliable; but such inaccuracies were cleverly offset with a smooth narrative pulse, detailed descriptions of unusual places, and plenty of action.
Although he was very happy in his marriage to the theater actress Aida Peruzzi, who gave him four children, Salgari was a man marked by tragedy. He wrote desperately to pay personal and family debts, allowing himself to be plundered by publishers who pocketed juicy profits thanks to his books.
The pirate Sandokán, inspired by the Spanish adventurer Carlos Cuarteroni Fernández, is one of the most popular fictional characters. From the first installment, titled The Tigers of Mompracemuntil the last story Yáñez’s revenge —published two years after the death of its author—, the saga achieved great success among young audiences and several of its books registered circulations of more than one hundred thousand copies.
Unfortunately, while his fame increased, Salgari became poorer. The mental illness of his wife, exacerbated from the year 1903, depressed him even more, forcing him to work tirelessly to pay for medical expenses, the maintenance of his children and a decent standard of living. Overwhelmed, in 1909 he attempted suicide by sticking a knife through his heart. Two years later, on April 25, 1911, shortly after the death of his wife, he took his own life by ripping open his belly according to the japanese rite seppuku.
The prolific writer left three notes: one for his children, another for his editors, and the third for the editors of newspapers in Turin, the city where he lived and worked for a good part of his life. In the note addressed to the editors he said: “To you, who have enriched yourself with my skin (…) I only ask you in compensation for the profits that I have provided you, take care of the expenses of my funerals.”
