Svevo worked as a bank clerk, and, after marrying Lidia Veneziani, he
directed her father's factory, which supplied a special naval paint. He
was much more successful as a businessman than as a writer at the time,
his scripts being totally neglected. His fame came when he was over
sixty, thanks to the interest of his English teacher, a young James
Joyce.
Italian writer, best known for "Una vita" (A Life, 1892), "Senilità"
(As a Man Grows Older, 1898) and "La Conscienza di Zeno" (The
Confessions of Zeno, 1923).
Fifth child of Franz Schmidt, a Austrian Jewish salesman, and his wife
Mirjam Felice, who was of Italian descent.
After marrying Livia Veneziani, he converted to Roman Catholicism and
took over the factory of his father-in-law in Murano (1898).