Alberto Savinio , real name Andrea Francesco Alberto de Chirico was an Italian writer, painter, musician, journalist, essayist, playwright, set designer and composer. He was the younger brother of 'metaphysical' painter Giorgio de Chirico. His work often dealt with philosophical and psychological themes, and he also was heavily concerned with the philosophy of art.
Throughout his life, Savinio composed five operas and authored at least forty-seven books, including multiple autobiographies and memoirs. Savinio also extensively wrote and produced works for the theater. Savinio's work received mixed reviews during his lifetime, often due to his pervasive use of modernist techniques. He was influenced by and a contemporary of Apollinaire, Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob, and Fernand Léger, and had a significant influence on the surrealist movement.
Born in Athens, Greece, Andrea De Chirico was the third child of Evaristo De Chirico and Emma Cervetto De Chirico (a Genoese noble). At the time of his birth, Andrea's parents were living as Italian expatriates in Greece while his father worked as an engineer for the Societé des Chemins de Fer de la Thessalie, working on the Greek railway system. His older brother, three years his senior, was the renowned artist Giorgio de Chirico. Andrea also had an older sister named Adele who died six months before his birth. Later in his life, Andrea would reflect upon his foreign birth as a special opportunity to determine his own destiny through determination of his own national identity.
Andrea was primarily homeschooled by his mother, while living in Greece. He often depicts his father as educationally restrictive, authoritarian and oppressive. Partly due to his restrictive learning environment at home, Andrea learned to love Greece. At a young age he became enthralled by the Ancient Greek ruins and culture, which were conducive to creativity and fantasy during his childhood. As a result, Andrea would later often credit Greece for his love of critical thinking and irony.
In addition to his homeschooling, Andrea also enjoyed a strong musical education. At the age of twelve, he graduated from the Athens Conservatory with a concentration in piano and music composition. When he was fourteen, his father died. In response, Andrea composed a Requiem in his father's memory. Andrea's family then returned to their ethnic homeland of Italy. Staying in Italy only briefly, the family again relocated, this time to Munich, Germany. While living in Germany, Andrea began to be tutored in piano and composition by renowned musician Max Reger. While under Reger's tutelage, Andrea composed his first piece to receive critical acclaim, a three-act opera, Carmela; as well as an opera of lesser acclaim, Il tesoro del Rampsenita. Carmela was quickly noticed by composer Pietro Mascagni, and music publisher Ricordi.
By 1911, when Andrea was twenty, his music had become popular enough to be performed in public in Munich. The same year, Andrea set out on his own, moving to Paris, France an epicenter of activity for the European Avant-Garde and Modernist movements. In Paris, he befriended Guillaume Apollinaire, one of the foremost poets, critics, and artists at large in the Avant-Garde movement. While living in Paris, Andrea also became acquainted with a range of writers and artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob, and Fernand Léger. Andrea developed an interest in the art of mime during this period, as well.
In 1914, largely in an effort to differentiate himself from his increasingly famous artist-brother, Giorgio de Chirico, Andrea adopted the penname Alberto Savinio. Savinio founded the musical movement Sincerismo (Sincerism) this same year. Sincerismo largely abandoned polyphony and harmony in favor of dissonance and rhythm as its primary musical characteristics. That year also saw the publication of Les Chants de la mi-mort (The Songs of Half-Death), a dramatic poem including original illustrations and a piano suite accompaniment, both also created by Savinio. Les Chants de la mi-mort was written primarily in French, but also included passages written in Italian. The poem consisted of a single act, containing four loosely linked scenes. Les Chants de la mi-mort dealt largely with the concept of sleep (interpretatively referred to as "The Half Death") and was filled with odd, mechanical toy-like characters. This poem's description of the faceless dummy later became a hallmark in the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico.
Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Savinio and his brother returned to Italy in order to enlist in the Italian army. After enlisting, the pair was sent to the military hospital in Ferrara, Italy, where they met Carlo Carrà. This group of three, under the influence of Giovanni Papini, then proceeded to found the artistic movement Schola Metafisica (Metaphysical School). Schola Metafisica became known as one of the most significant artistic experiences of twentieth-century Italy. In 1917, Savinio was sent to Greece as an interpreter for Italian troops. While stationed there, Savinio gained the chance to rediscover his childhood play-world of Greece, and the influence can be seen in his first published novel, Hermaphrodito. Hermaphrodito was published in 1918, and like Les Chants de la mi-mort, was a multilingual piece, intertwining languages as well as prose and poetry. Hermaphrodito was also a meld of autobiography, fiction, thoughts and fantasies; it has even been called a war journal, as it often deals with specific experiences from World War I. Savinio claimed a very personal connection to the novel, once stating, "Tutto che io sono nasce da li. Tutto che ho fatto viene da li" (Everything that I am springs from there. Everything that I have done comes from there.). After World War I, Savinio relocated to Rome.

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