Have you ever considered how a simple blue plaque could mark a connection between a famous writer and a seemingly ordinary London street? Right here at 67 Charlton Church Lane stands a testament to Italo Svevo. Italo Svevo a great Italian Modernist lived here from 1903 to 1913.
This blue plaque erected by English Heritage in 1999 commemorates Ettore Schmitz. He is better known to the world as Italo Svevo. Italo Svevo was not just any writer. He was a friend of James Joyce. He gained fame for his novel Confessions of Zeno.
Now imagine Italo Svevo arriving in Charlton. He thought it was the drabest suburb. He soon found a home away from home here. He described Charlton Church Lane as a neat street on a slope. He also noted it was one of the most variegated streets in the Realm.
Italo Svevo didn’t come to London for literature alone. He came to set up a ship’s paint factory. The factory was part of his father-in-law’s anti-corrosion business. It was located in Anchor and Hope Lane. This was a short walk from his home.
Can you picture Italo Svevo walking to work? In that short distance he changed his mind ten times. This was based on the people he met. He found the Cockney accent an insuperable difficulty.
Despite these challenges Italo Svevo found community in Charlton. He played in a violin trio. His fellow musicians were a workman from Woolwich Arsenal and a local shopkeeper. Italo Svevo also became a keen supporter of Charlton Athletic.
Italo Svevo was a comic chronicler of consciousness. His writing explored the individual in an irrational world. Though Confessions of Zeno is his most famous work. He is more than just a one-hit-wonder.
Did you know that Italo Svevo’s first novel A Life was based on his experiences working in a bank? His second novel Senility was considered a failure. It took him 25 years to publish again.
His friendship with James Joyce was a turning point. Joyce encouraged him to write again. Joyce arranged for Confessions of Zeno to be published in Paris. The book became an instant success.
After World War I Italo Svevo wrote essays on England. He also began an unfinished story Short Sentimental Journey in Charlton. Sadly Italo Svevo died in a car crash in 1928.
Italo Svevo’s time in Charlton influenced his writing. In Soggiorno londinese he wrote about his experiences in Charlton. He never published it.
So as you stand here consider Italo Svevo. He found inspiration in this ordinary London suburb. The blue plaque marks not just a residence. It marks a place where a comic genius lived. It was a place where he found community. It was a place where he created great literature.