author
Italo Svevo
1861–1928
A pioneering voice of Italian modernism, he brought wit, irony, and psychological depth to the struggles of ordinary life. His best-known novel, Zeno’s Conscience, was championed by his friend James Joyce and became a classic of twentieth-century literature.
1 Audiobook
Confessions of Zeno
by Italo Svevo
About the author
Born Aron Hector Schmitz in Trieste in 1861, Italo Svevo was an Italian and Austro-Hungarian writer, novelist, playwright, short-story author, and businessman. He adopted the pen name “Italo Svevo,” reflecting his Italian and German cultural influences.
Svevo published three major novels: A Life (1892), As a Man Grows Older (1898), and Zeno’s Conscience (1923). His work is noted for its close attention to inner life, self-deception, memory, and the uneasy psychology of modern people.
He formed a close friendship with James Joyce, who encouraged wider recognition of his writing. Svevo died in Motta di Livenza in 1928, leaving behind a body of work now regarded as an important foundation of the modern psychological novel.