FUCINI, RENATO. - Short-story writer, b. 18 April 1843 at Monterotondo (Pisa), d. at Empoli on 25 February 1921.
First known for I cento sonetti in vernacolo pisano (1872), published under the anagram Neri Tanfucio, he later attained a mature artistic expression in his descriptions of settings, figures, and landscapes—vivid like those of the Macchiaioli—and in the numerous sketches, now fine tales (Le veglie di Neri, 4th ed., Milan 1890; All'aria aperta, Florence 1887; Nella campagna toscana, ibid. 1908), as well as in the letters to a friend (Napoli e occhio nudo, ibid. 1887) and in his autobiographical writings (Acqua passata, Foglie al vento, single volume, ibid. 1930), which illuminate the course of his life: from agricultural surveyor to school inspector. For F., religion was a remnant of superstition; hence the anticlerical themes frequent in his prose.