Irma Valeria (1897-1988)

The writer Irma Valeria was born as Irma Gelmetti Zorzi in Verona in 1897 and joined Futurism in 1914. Together with her sister Mimi Gelmetti, who worked as a painter, Irma was a member of the Futurist group in Ravenna. In contributions for “L’Italia Futurista ” - Irma Valeria published articles, lyrical prose and a plate of parole in libertà which were sometimes strongly geared towards Occultism, reflecting the interests of the Futurist group in Ravenna. In 1917, Valeria published in Florence her first writing “Morbidezze in agguato”, an experiment strongly influenced by occultism . The book cover was designed by her sister Mimi using stylistic elements of the Symbolism.

The novel “Fidanzamento con l’azzurro”, published in Milan in 1919, however, has distinct esoteric features. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti dedicates one of his “parolelibere” plates published in “L’Italia Futurista” to Irma Valeria: “Morbidezze in agguato+Bombarde italiane ”. The writer Mario Carli dedicated the first edition of his novel “Notti filtrate” (1918) to Irma. In the end, it wasn’t long before Irma Valeria left the group of Futurists. At the beginning of the 1920s, in terms of her literary activity, she vanished, until in 1984, she published again some poetry.

 

Cited Literature:

Bello Minciacchi , Cecilia (ed.): Spirale di dolcezza + Serpe di Fascino. Scrittrici Futuriste Antologia, Naples 2001, p. 193-224.

Cammarota , Domenico: Irma Valeria, in: Ezio Godoli (ed.): Il dizionario del futurismo, Florence 2002, p. 515-516.

Carli , Mario: Notti filtrate, Florence 1918.