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Marisa Madieri is an Italian author best known for her books narrating the events Istrian refugees.

Marisa Madieri was born in 1938 in Fiume, Istria; now Rijeka, Croatia. Fiume was the port city to Italy during the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, here is where Marisa spent her childhood. Marisa was raise primarily by her grandmother who taught her to speak Italian, German, and Hungarian. Her mother was quiet and gentle, as opposed to her father who was raging and reckless. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapse Marisa’s father was given the choice to either accept the Yugoslav citizenship or leave the country. Her father, being reckless as he was, chose to leave the country and was exiled to Trieste, Italy in 1949. When her family arrives in Italy they are separated into management zones, with the spilt of her family Marisa was brought to Venice by her Uncle. Her Uncle said “The child was broke from Fiume, when it came to Venice, no longer a child.”

When living with her aunt and uncle she couldn’t help but feel out of place and as a burden, she tried to take up as little space as possible in their house. However this feeling never got better, at the Catholic school she attended things were even worse, she was abused and left in solitude. Her only escape were the lovely picture books provided by her class room, the colors and stories were her refuge from the cold dark world she had been exposed to.

Later in her life she moved to Florence where we furthered her studies in foreign languages. In Florence she met another writer named Claudio Margris of whom she married and had two sons with, Francis and Paul. This is when her writing really took off she wrote many books about Istrian exiles which became famous because they are considered to be the clearest representations narrating the series of events that Istrain refugees encountered. Her work was inspired by the volunteer work she performed at the Support of Life Center. She also wrote other stories, one of her later works was a parable adding to her versatility of her work.

List of works

1998- Verde acqua E La radura

2004 - Wassergrn

2007 - Maria