Darina Laracy Silone

Originally from Dublin, Darina Elizabeth Laracy Silone was carrying out research for her doctoral thesis at Ambrosiana Library in Milan when Italy entered the war in 1940. After moving to Rome, Laracy worked as a correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune and the International News Services. Because of her contacts with the US press and the anti-fascist cut of her articles, Laracy attracted the attention of the Gestapo. Accused of espionage, on June 22, 1941, Laracy left Italy and took refuge in Switzerland, in Bern, where for months she wrote unsigned articles for the American and British press.

At the end of 1941, at the Museumsgesellschaft library in Zurich, Laracy met Ignazio Silone whose Fontamara, Vino e pane and La scuola dei dittatori she already knew and admired. It was mainly the anxiety for social justice recurring in the works of the Italian writer that captivated Laracy. United by common ideals, the two began seeing each other and working together.

Between 1942 and 1944, Laracy collaborated with the British and American intelligence services in Switzerland together with Silone who was actively engaged in promoting and supporting the Socialist Resistance in Italy. To testify the deep bond between the two is the writer’s dedication to Laracy. On a copy of the first Italian edition of his third novel Il seme sotto la neve Silone wrote: "To my companion Darina – Unum in una fide et spe: libertas" (United in a single faith and hope: freedom). After the liberation of Rome in 1944 Laracy returned to Italy with Silone. The two got married shortly after their return.

In the late 1950s Laracy participated in numerous initiatives organized by Tempo presente, the magazine founded by Silone and Nicola Chiaromonte in 1956. In the decades following the end of World War II, Laracy edited several translations of her husband’s works into English, including Ed egli si nascose (And He Hid Himself: A Play in Four Acts, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1945), Una manciata di more (A Handful of Blackberries, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1953) and Il segreto di Luca (The Secret of Luca, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1958). Also in this period Laracy translated into English works such as Made in Italy by Igor Markevitch (Harvill Press, London, 1949), Memorie by Beniamino Gigli (The Gigli Memoirs, Cassell & Company, London, 1957) and La sora Parisina by Aldo Palazzeschi (Aunt Parisina, Faber and Faber, London, 1959). 

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