Lanza del Vasto (born Giuseppe Giovanni Luigi Maria Enrico Lanza di Trabia-Branciforte; 29 September 1901 – 5 January 1981) was an Italian poet and nonviolent activist.

Youth in Italy

His father, Don Luigi Giuseppe Lanza di Trabia-Branciforte, was Sicilian and his mother, Anne-Marie Henriette Nauts-Oedenkoven,

Nonviolent activism

In 1957, during the Algerian War, del Vasto started with other well-known people (General de Bollardière, François Mauriac, Robert Barrat, etc.) a movement of protest against torture. He fasted for 21 days. In 1958, he demonstrated against the nuclear power plant in Marcoule, France, which produced plutonium for nuclear weapons.

In 1963, he fasted for 40 days in Rome during the Second Vatican Council, asking Pope John XXIII to stand against war - "Pour demander au Pape de prendre position contre la guerre."

In 1965, he was at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, talking about non-violence during weeks with the students.

thumb|300px|Left to right, Jean-Marie Muller, Lanza del Vasto, Jacques de la Bollardière on the Larzac during the struggle against the military camp extension.

In 1972, he supported the farmers of the Larzac plateau against the extension of a military base while fasting for 15 days. In 1974, a community of the Ark settled in the Larzac in a farmhouse bought by the army.

In 1976, he participated in the demonstrations against the building of the fast breeder reactor Superphénix at Creys-Malville, Isère (France).

Death

In January 1981, del Vasto was working to found a new community in Elche de la Sierra, in the Spanish province of Albacete, when on 5 January, he had a brain hemorrhage and was taken to the hospital of Ciudad Sanitaria Virgen de La Arrixaca in Murcia. He died there on 6 Jan.

See also

  • List of peace activists

Bibliography

  • Ballades aux Dames du temps présent, Paris, 1923.
  • Conquiste du Vento, Florence, 1927.
  • Fantasia Notturna, théâtre, Florence, 1927.
  • Judas, récit biblique, Grasset, 1938, Gallimard, 1992.
  • Le Chiffre des Choses, poésies, Robert Laffont, 1942.
  • Le Pélerinage aux Sources, Denoël, 1943, Gallimard, 1989, Le Rocher, 1993.
  • Dialogue de l'Amitié, avec Luc Dietrich (Laffont, 1942, 1993).
  • Choix, poésies, Le Seuil, 1944.
  • La Marche des Rois, théâtre, R. Laffont, 1944.
  • Principes et préceptes du retour à l'évidence, Denoël, 1945, Le Rocher, 1996 sous le titre Eloge de la vie simple.
  • La Baronne de Carins, bilingue, poème épique traduit du vieux sicilien, Le Seuil, 1946.
  • La Passion, théâtre, Grasset, 1951.
  • Commentaire de l'Evangile, Denoël, 1951, Le Rocher, 1994.
  • Histoire d'une amitié, dans L'Injuste Grandeur de Luc Dietrich, Denoël, 1951, Le Rocher, 1993.
  • Vinoba, ou le nouveau pélerinage, Denoël, 1954, Gallimard, 1982.
  • Préfaces aux huit ouvrages de la collection Pensée gandhienne, Denoël, 1985–1965.
  • Les Quatre Fléaux, philosophie, Denoël, 1959, Le Rocher, 1993.
  • Pacification en Algérie, ou mensonge et violence, édition clandestine, 1960, L'Harmattan, 1988.
  • Approches de la Vie Intérieure, Denoël, 1962, Le Rocher, 1992.
  • Noé, théâtre, Denoël, 1965.
  • La Montée des âmes vivantes, Denoël, 1968.
  • L'Homme libre et les ânes sauvages, Denoël, 1969 et 1987.
  • La Trinité spirituelle, philosophie, Denoël, 1971, Le Rocher, 1994.
  • Technique de la non-violence, Denoël, 1971, Gallimard, 1988.
  • Préface au Message Retrouvé de Louis Cattiaux (nombreuses traductions en castillan, , italien, anglais, allemand, portugais), Denoël, 1956.
  • L'Arche avait pour voilure une vigne, Denoël, 1978, 1982.
  • Les etymologies imaginaires: Verite, vie et vertu des mots, Denoël, 1985. ()
  • David Berger, théâtre, Lion de Judas, 1988.
  • Pour éviter la fin du monde, Le Rocher, 1991.
  • Le Viatique, 2 tomes, Le Rocher, 1991.
  • Les Quatre Pilliers de la paix, Le Rocher, 1992.
  • Le Grand Retour, Le Rocher, 1993. ()
  • Pages d'enseignement, Le Rocher, 1993. ()

Books in English

  • Return to the Source, Schocken, New York, 1972. Includes an account of Shantidas's stay with Gandhi. ()
  • Make Straight the Way of the Lord: An Anthology of the Philosophical Writings of Lanza del Vasto, Knopf, New York, 1974. ()
  • Warriors of Peace: Writings on the Technique of Nonviolence, Knopf, New York, 1974. ()
  • Principles and Precepts of the Return to the Obvious, Shocken, New York, 1974. () (Originally published in French under the title "Principes et préceptes du retour à l'évidence", Editions Denoël, Paris, 1945).
  • Gandhi to Vinoba: The New Pilgrimage, Shocken, New York, 1974. () (Reprint from Rider, London, 1956) (translated by Philip Leon from Vinoba, ou le nouveau pélerinage, Denoël, 1954)

Essays on Lanza del Vasto

  • Qui est Lanza del Vasto, by Jacques Madaule,
  • Lanza del Vasto, by Arnaud de Mareuil (Seghers, 1965)
  • Dialogues avec Lanza del Vasto, by René Doumerc (Albin Michel)
  • Les Facettes de Cristal, interviews with Claude-Henri Roquet (Éditions du Centurion)
  • Lanza del Vasto, sa vie, son œuvre, son message, by Arnaud de Mareuil (Dangles)

Citations

References

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