Switzerland Francesco Chiesa (b/w photo)

Undated photograph of the Ticino writer Francesco Chiesa (1871 - 1973), taken in Lugano. Chiesa first studied law and worked as secretary of the Ticino public prosecutor before turning to art and literature. He became a teacher of literature and art history at the Liceo in Lugano, and later rector of this school. He is considered the best known author in Italian-speaking Switzerland. Significant above all as a poet, he wrote sensitive, delicate, but also humorous poems, stories and novels. With his conservative spelling and his long life he dominated the literature of Ticino in the 20th century. Chiesa died in Lugano on 13 June 1973 at the age of 101.