Emilio Salgari

Many of his most popular novels have been adapted as comics, animated series and feature films. He is considered the father of Italian adventure fiction and Italian pop culture, and the "grandfather" of the Spaghetti Western.

Emilio Salgari studied at Istituto Tecnico Commerciale Paolo Sarpi. The recorded working language is Italian. The field of work recorded is adventure novel. Rider Haggard is recorded as an influence. Works named in the authority record are The Tigers of Mompracem, The Pirates of Malaysia, The Two Tigers, The King of the Sea, Quest for a Throne and Sandokan to the Rescue. Work by Emilio Salgari is recorded in the collections of Memoria Chilena.

Emilio Salgari was born in Verona to a family of modest merchants. From a young age, he had the desire to explore the seas; he studied seamanship at a nautical technical institution in Venice, but his academic performance was too poor, and he never graduated. He began his writing career as a reporter for the daily La Nuova Arena, which published some of his work as serials. There, under the pseudonym Emilius, he wrote theatre reviews covering operas, operettas, ballets, and dramatic performances.. As his powers of narration grew, so did his reputation for having lived a life of adventure. He claimed to have explored the Sudan desert, met Buffalo Bill in Nebraska (he had actually met him during his "Wild West Show" tour of Italy), and sailed the Seven Seas. His early biographies were filled with adventurous tales set in the Far East, events which he claimed were the basis for much of his work. Salgari had actually never ventured farther than the Adriatic Sea. He turned his passion for exploration and discovery to writing. His first stories were serialized in newspapers. Early in his career, he began signing his tales as "Captain Salgari", a title he once defended in a duel when his claim to it was questioned. Though knighted by the Queen of Italy and wildly popular, Salgari did not earn much money from his books and lived hand to mouth for most of his life. In 1892, Salgari married Ida Peruzzi – nicknamed "Aida," with whom he was very happy for years. The couple had four children. Salgari's private life was clouded by several tragedies. In 1889 his father committed suicide. Ida became ill after 1903 and Salgari's struggling increased with her medical bills. These events led Salgari to depression, and he attempted suicide in 1910. After Ida was committed to a mental ward in 1911, Salgari was overwhelmed and took his own life on 25 April 1911, imitating the Japanese ritual of seppuku. He left three letters, addressed to his and Ida's children, his publisher, and the editors of his newspaper in Turin. The letter to his publisher said: To you that have grown rich from the sweat of my brow while keeping myself and my family in misery, I ask only that from those profits you find the funds to pay for my funeral. I salute you while I break my pen. Emilio Salgari. Two of the sons of Emilio and Aida also committed suicide, Romero in 1933 and Omar, an adventure writer himself, in 1963. His daughter Fatima died of tuberculosis in 1914, while his remaining son Nadir died in a motorcycle accident in 1936. His wife died in the mental ward in 1922.

Salgari wrote more than 200 adventure stories and novels, setting his tales in exotic locations, with heroes from a wide variety of cultures. He gained inspiration from reading foreign literature and newspapers, travel magazines and encyclopedias, which he used to portray his heroes' worlds. He wrote four major series: The Pirates of Malaysia; The Black Corsair Saga; The Pirates of Bermuda; and a collection of adventures set in the Old West. Salgari's heroes were mostly pirates, outlaws and barbarians, fighting against greed, abuse of power, and corruption. His most famous heroes Sandokan, The Tiger of Malaysia, a Bornean prince turned pirate, and his loyal Portuguese lieutenant Yanez de Gomera, led their men in attacks against the Dutch and British fleets. They declared war on James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak, and tried to force him from his throne. The Black Corsair and Captain Morgan maintained a chivalric code in the Caribbean, while Salgari's pirates of Bermuda fought for American independence. His tales had been so popular that soon his publisher hired other writers to develop adventure stories under his name. They added 50 novels to his "canon". Salgari's style was imitated by many, but no other Italian adventure writer managed to duplicate his popular success. He also published numerous minor works, among which is Il Brick Maledetto (Milano, Sonzogno, 1936) published posthumously.

Salgari's works have been published by numerous publishing houses worldwide. These include: Donath, Viglongo, Carroccio, RCS MediaGroup, and Mondadori in Italian; Saturnino Calleja, Editorial Porrúa (Colección Sepan Cuantos) and Ediciones Gaviota in Spanish; Editora Illuminuras in Portuguese; Bouquins in French; ABLIT Verlag in German; and ROH Press in English. ROH Press has been republishing the novels in Italian, with their translations into English and Spanish.

Though Salgari's novels have been popular in Europe and Latin America for over a century, at present only nine titles are available in English, published by ROH Press.

The Mystery of the Black Jungle Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem Sandokan: The Pirates of Malaysia Sandokan: The Two Tigers Sandokan: The King of the Sea Sandokan: Quest for a Throne

The Black Corsair The Queen of the Caribbean

Captain Tempesta

The Mystery of the Black Jungle (I Misteri della Jungla Nera, 1895) The Tigers of Mompracem (Le tigri di Mompracem, 1900) The Pirates of Malaysia (I pirati della Malesia, 1896) The Two Tigers (Le due Tigri, 1904) The King of the Sea (Il re del mare, 1906) Quest for a Throne (Alla conquista di un impero, 1907) Sandokan to the Rescue (Sandokan alla riscossa, 1907) Return to Mompracem (La riconquista di Mompracem, 1908) The Brahman (Il Bramino dell’Assam, 1911) An Empire Crumbles (La caduta di un impero, 1911) Yanez’ Revenge (La rivincita di Yanez, 1913) The last three titles were published posthumously.

The Black Corsair (Il Corsaro Nero, 1898) The Queen of the Caribbean (La regina dei Caraibi, 1901) Yolanda, the Black Corsair's Daughter (Jolanda, la figlia del Corsaro Nero, 1905) The Son of the Red Corsair (Il figlio del Corsaro Rosso, 1908) The Last Pirates (Gli ultimi filibustieri, 1908)

I corsari delle Bermude (1909) La crociera della Tuonante (1910) Straordinarie avventure di Testa di Pietra (1915)

Sulle frontiere del Far-West (1908) La scotennatrice (1909) Le selve ardenti (1910)

Il Tesoro del Presidente del Paraguay (1894) Il Continente Misterioso (1894)

Le stragi delle Filippine (1897) Il Fiore delle Perle (1901)

I Figli dell'Aria (1904) Il Re dell'Aria (1907)

Captain Tempesta (Capitan Tempesta, 1905) The Lion of Damascus (Il Leone di Damasco, 1910)

I racconti della Bibliotechina aurea illustrata (1900–1906) Le novelle marinaresche di Mastro Catrame (1894) Le grandi pesche nei mari australi (1904) Il Brick Maledetto (Milano, Sonzogno, 1936) published posthumously.[1]

Excerpts from 15 of Salgari's titles were collected in Storie Rosse in 1910. Each excerpt is introduced by a brief synopsis of the novel it was drawn from.

I naufragatori dell'Oregon (1896) La rosa del Dong-Giang (1897; also known as: Tay-See) Il capitano della Djumna (1897) Sul mare delle perle (1903) La città del re lebbroso (1904) La gemma del fiume rosso (1904) La Perla Sanguinosa (1905)

I drammi della schiavitù (1896) La Costa d'Avorio (1898) Le caverne dei diamanti (1899) Le avventure di un marinaio in Africa (1899) La giraffa bianca (1902) La montagna d'oro (1901; also known as: Il treno volante)

Il re della montagna (1895) I predoni del Sahara (1903) I briganti del Riff (1911) I predoni del gran deserto (1911)

La scimitarra di Budda (1892) La città dell'oro (1898) Duemila leghe sotto l'America (1888) (also known as Il tesoro misterioso) La montagna di luce (1902) Il tesoro della montagna azzurra (1907)

Gli orrori della Siberia (1900) L'eroina di Port Arthur (1904, also known as La Naufragatrice) Le aquile della steppa (1907)

Il re della Prateria (1896) Il figlio del cacciatore d'orsi (1899) Avventure fra le pellirosse (1900) La sovrana del campo d'oro (1905)

Nel paese dei ghiacci (1896) Al Polo Australe in velocipede (1895) Al Polo Nord (1898) La Stella Polare e il suo viaggio avventuroso (1901; also known as: Verso l'Artide con la Stella Polare) La Stella dell'Araucania (1906) Una sfida al Polo (1909)

Le pantere di Algeri (1903) Le figlie dei Faraoni (1905) Cartagine in fiamme (1908)

I pescatori di balene (1894) I Robinson italiani (1896) Attraverso l'Atlantico in pallone (1896) I minatori dell'Alaska (1900) L'uomo di fuoco (1904) Il vampiro della foresta (1912)

Un dramma nell'Oceano Pacifico (1895) I naufraghi del Poplador (1895) I pescatori di Trepang (1896) Gli scorridori del mare (1900) I solitari dell'Oceano (1904) Sull'Atlante (1907)

La favorita del Mahdi (1887) La capitana del Yucatan (1899) Le stragi della China (1901; also known as: Il sotterraneo della morte)

I naviganti della Meloria (1902)

Le meraviglie del Duemila (1907)

La Bohème italiana (1909)