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. 2023 May 16;64(1):E101-E106.
doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2023.64.1.2839. eCollection 2023 Mar.

One hundred years after the death of the writer and novelist Giovanni Verga (1922) and his relationship with public health: a glimpse of the past in the era of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic

Mariano Martini  1 , Donatella Lippi  2
Affiliations

One hundred years after the death of the writer and novelist Giovanni Verga (1922) and his relationship with public health: a glimpse of the past in the era of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic

Mariano Martini et al. J Prev Med Hyg. .

Abstract

Background: In 1922 the famous Italian novelist Giovanni Verga died in Catania (Italy). In Verga's works there are many suggestions to the world of medicine, in particular the diseases described in the poor society of southern Italy of that time. One of the most common diseases described by Verga was cholera.

Methods: The authors researched and reviewed Verga's works, detecting references to public health. These are topical issues in the current period of the COVID pandemic. In Verga's works the theme of hygiene, epidemiology, and infectious diseases occur. There are many hints related to medicine, especially as far as the typical diseases of poor society and the difficult social environments of the time are concerned. One of the most common diseases described by Verga was cholera but also malaria and tuberculosis occur.

Results: It was estimated that 69,000 people died of cholera in Sicily, of whom 24,000 in Palermo. The public health situation in Italy was difficult. Verga denounces people's ignorance and the survival of past beliefs.

Conclusion: Verga describes a culturally and economically humble society, in a region characterized by large class gaps. It draws a difficult picture of the public health situation in the second half of the 19th Century and people's daily lives. The authors believe that today it is important that the centenary of Verga's death be an opportunity to read his works, also from a medical historical point of view.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Giovanni Verga; History of public health; Hygiene and literature; Medical humanities; Social status and class; XIX Century.

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Conflict of interest statement

Each author declares that they have no commercial associations (e.g. consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangement etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Portrait of Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) [Public Domain – Wikipedia Commons].
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Title page “I Malavoglia” by Giovanni Verga (Wikipedia commons – public domain) – (1907).
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Sicily – Isle (Italy) 1911 – [Public Domain].
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Photograph taken by Giovanni Verga – “La Sicilia rurale” [Wikipedia Commons – public domain)].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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