Tiziano Terzani (14 september 1938 - 28 july 2004) was an Italian journalist and writer.
Terzani was born in Florence in 1938. He attended the University of Pisa as a law student and, after graduating, he started working for Olivetti, the most advanced office equipment producer in Italy. In 1965, he had the chance to go on a business trip to Japan. This was his first contact with Asia and his first step towards his decision to change his life radically and to explore Asia. He then resigned from Olivetti and in 1971 moved to Singapore as a reporter, with his wife and their two small children. The German weekly Der Spiegel appointed him correspondent from Asia. He then offered his collaboration to the Italian daily newspapers Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica, thus becoming one of the most prestigious Italian journalists on an international level.
Terzani knew much about the historical and political background of Asia, but was also profoundly interested in the philosophical aspects of Asian culture. He lived in Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and New Delhi, which became his second home. His stay in Beijing came to an end when he was arrested and expelled from the country for "counter-revolutionary activities". Based on his experiences, he wrote La porta proibita (The forbidden door), a highly critical book about post-maoist China.
Terzani's experiences in Asia are described in articles and essays in newspapers, as well as the several books that he wrote. In the first book, which he wrote in 1973, Pelle di leopardo (Leopard skin), he tells about the last phases of the Vietnam war. One of his most interesting books is Un indovino mi disse (A fortune teller told me..), the report of a journey through different Asian countries. The journey lasted for about a year. In this period, Terzani never took a plane, following the advice and warning of a fortune teller he had met.
In 1997, Terzani received the Luigi Barzini prize for his activities as a reporter. After 9/11 he wrote Lettere contro la guerra (Letters against the war). The book was born as a response to the anti-islamic invectives published by the Italian journalist and author Oriana Fallaci on the daily "Il corriere della sera" on 29 september 2001.
In his last book Un altro giro di giostra ("One more ride on the merry-go-round"), Terzani deals with his illness, (a tumor) which eventually led to his death, but not before he had travelled and searched through different and far away countries and civilizations, looking for a cure for his cancer and for a new vision of life. A short excerpt from his book: "...after a while, the goal of my journey was not the cure for my cancer anymore, bur for the sickness which affects all of us: mortality"
Terzani died on 28 July 2004.
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Last updated: 09-12-2005 02:39:13
