The Conformist

Born in Rome of Jewish-Roman Catholic parents, Moravia was not much affected by the "Fascist racial laws" until Mussolini's fall in 1943 and the consequent German occupation of Rome. Under fascism, Moravia published his first novel, The Time of Indifference (1929), at his own expense when he was only 22; yet it was a great success and remains his most characteristic work. He produced nothing to match it until after World War II, when he emerged as the leading Italian neorealist, publishing in rapid order The Woman of Rome (1947), Disobedience (1948), The Conformist (1951), Ghost at Noon (1948), Roman Tales (1954), and Two Women (1957). Many believe the latter is his best novel, telling of the efforts of a shopkeeper and her daughter, raped by Italy's liberators and learning to adapt themselves to the postwar new order. Moravia made a great stir in world literary circles after World War II by announcing his conversion to Roman Catholicism, which had given him solace and protection during the German occupation. Among his more recent publications is 1984. In 1941 Moravia married ~Elsa Morante. They separated in 1962.