Editing Italo Svevo (section)

== Early life ==
Born in [[Trieste]] (at the time in the [[Austrian Empire]], then in [[Austria-Hungary]] since 1867) as Aron Ettore Schmitz<ref>At his birth, Svevo was named "Aron, called Ettore, Schmitz, as recorded in the register of births of the Jewish Community in Trieste. His friend James Joyce was to address letters and postcards to him as Mr Hector Schmitz. His wife Livia Veneziani ... also addressed him as Hector." Gatt-Rutter, J & Mulroney, B. ''"This England is so different" – Italo Svevo's London Writings'', p. 4.</ref> to a [[Jewish Germans|Jewish German]] father and an [[Italians|Italian]] mother, Svevo was one of seven children, and grew up enjoying a passion for [[literature]] from a young age, reading works of [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]], [[Friedrich Schiller|Schiller]], [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], and the classics of [[French literature|French]] and [[Russian literature]].<ref name="Treccani"/><ref name="famousauthors">{{Cite web|url=http://www.famousauthors.org/italo-svevo|title=Italo Svevo {{!}} Biography, Books and Facts|website=www.famousauthors.org|access-date=2016-05-24}}</ref>

Svevo was a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of the [[First World War]]. He spoke [[Italian language|Italian]] as a second language, as he usually spoke the [[Triestine dialect]]. Due to his Germanophone ancestry by his father, he and his brothers were sent to a boarding school near [[Würzburg]], in the [[German Empire]], where he learnt and became fluent in [[German language|German]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.br.de/radio/bayern2/sendungen/land-und-leute/italo-svevo-in-segnitz-ursula-naumann108.html|title = "Die Zukunft der Erinnerungen": Italo Svevos Schulzeit in Segnitz|date = 16 December 2011}}</ref>

After returning to Trieste in 1880, Svevo continued his studies for a further two years at Istituto Revoltella, before being forced to take financial responsibility when his father filed for [[bankruptcy]], after his once successful glassware business failed. This 20-year period as a [[bank clerk]] at the [[Unionbank (Austria)|Unionbank]] of [[Vienna]] served as inspiration for his first novel, ''[[Una Vita]]'' (1892).<ref name="famousauthors"/>

During his time at the bank, Svevo contributed to Italian-language socialist publication ''[[L'Indipendente]]'' ([[:it:L'Indipendente (Trieste)|it]]), and began writing plays (which he rarely finished) before beginning work on ''Una vita'' in 1887. Svevo adhered to a [[Humanism|humanistic]] and [[democratic socialism]], which predisposed him to [[pacifism]], and to [[Europeanism|advocate for the creation of a European economic union]] after the war.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pappalardo |first1=Salvatore |title=One Last Austrian Cigarette: Italo Svevo and Habsburg Trieste |journal=Prospero: Rivista di Letterature Straniere, Comparatistica e Studi Culturali |date=2011 |volume=16 |pages=82–83}}</ref>

Following the death of his parents, Svevo married his cousin Livia Veneziani in a civil ceremony in 1896.<ref name="Treccani"/><ref>Livia Veneziani was a quarter Jewish: her father, Gioachino Veneziani, was the son of a [[Ferrara|Ferrarese]] Jew and a Catholic mother; Livia's mother, Olga Moravia, was a first cousin of Svevo on his mother's side. See Elizabeth Schächter (2000), ''Origin And Identity: Essays on Svevo and Trieste'', p. 49.</ref> Soon after, Livia convinced him to convert to Catholicism and take part in a religious wedding (probably after a troublesome pregnancy).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.museosveviano.it/ar/svevo-virtual-tour/in-museo/7-il-diario-per-la-fidanzata/lalbum-di-famiglia-svevo-veneziani/ |title=Album della famiglia Svevo-Veneziani {{!}} Museo Sveviano di Trieste – Realtà Aumentata |website=www.museosveviano.it |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405024234/http://www.museosveviano.it/ar/svevo-virtual-tour/in-museo/7-il-diario-per-la-fidanzata/lalbum-di-famiglia-svevo-veneziani/ |archive-date=2018-04-05}} </ref> Personally, however, Svevo was an atheist.<ref>Casoli, Giovanni: ''Vangelo e letteratura''. Città Nuova, 2008, p. 90.</ref> He became a partner in his wealthy father-in-law's paint business - that specialized in manufacturing industrial paint, that was used on naval warships. He became successful in growing the business, and after trips to France and Germany set up a branch of the company in England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mantex.co.uk/2016/02/24/italo-svevo-biography/|title=Italo Svevo biography|date=2016-02-24|website=Mantex|access-date=2016-05-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429094816/http://www.mantex.co.uk/2016/02/24/italo-svevo-biography/|archive-date=2016-04-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Svevo lived for part of his life in [[Charlton, London|Charlton]], south-east London, while working for a family firm. He documented this period in his letters<ref>''"This England is so different" – Italo Svevo's London Writings''. John Gatt Rutter & Brian Mulroney. Troubador. {{ISBN|1-899293-59-0}}</ref> to his wife, which highlighted the cultural differences he encountered in Edwardian England. His old home at 67 Charlton Church Lane now carries a [[blue plaque]].