by Patrizia Riello Pera, Padua, Italy

In 1972, the Premio Campiello was awarded to Mario Tobino for Per le antiche scale, a novel of extraordinary human intensity that tears away the veil from a reality often forgotten or feared. Set within a psychiatric hospital, the work presents a space that for the author is both a concrete environment of daily life and a powerful symbolic container of mental suffering. Tobino, in his dual role as psychiatrist and writer, chooses to portray this world from within, adopting a perspective that is deeply empathetic while never losing the clinical clarity necessary to understand its dynamics. The characters who inhabit these pages emerge with disarming truth, revealing themselves in their utmost fragility and psychological complexity, far removed from stereotypes of madness. In this instance, the Campiello honors an authentic and courageous narrative, one that restores voice and dignity to those whom society has too often marginalized and silenced behind the walls of asylums. In this book, madness is never treated as a spectacle for public curiosity, but as a profound and universal human condition that demands respect, study, and above all, understanding. Tobino’s prose is distinguished by a crystalline simplicity, free of rhetorical ornament, yet precisely for this reason deeply incisive and capable of striking directly at the reader’s conscience. The novel thus transcends pure fiction to become a precious form of civic testimony and an act of profound humanity against the indifference of the outside world. Through the lens of his medical experience, the author transforms hospital wards into a stage where the drama of existence unfolds, where the boundary between reason and unreason appears thin and at times indistinguishable. Each encounter between doctor and patient becomes a moment of spiritual exchange, a heroic attempt to decipher the secret language that inhabits the most tormented minds. The prize jury recognized the ethical value of a work unafraid to confront darkness, celebrating a literature that takes on the burden of others’ suffering and elevates it into art. Per le antiche scale remains a milestone of twentieth-century narrative, a constant invitation to look beyond appearances and to recognize humanity even where balance seems lost. In these pages, science and poetry merge in perfect harmony, demonstrating that only through empathy can there be a true healing of the soul. Tobino’s success at the Campiello reaffirms the social function of the prize: to bring necessary stories to the attention of a broad audience, stories capable of challenging certainties and expanding the boundaries of our collective sensitivity. The work stands as a hymn to life, even in its most tragic aspects, confirming the greatness of an author who transformed his profession into a literary mission, leaving us an unforgettable portrait of that “otherness” which ultimately makes us all part of the same fragile humanity.

PATRIZIA RIELLO PERA – SCRITTRICE E DISEGNATRICE