Lia Neanova (Italian: Lia Neanova; born Fanny Felia Rosenberg) was a writer, translator, and playwright of Jewish origin, and a representative of the literary émigré community of the early twentieth century.
Odessa
Lia Neanova was born into a Jewish family in Odessa. Her early years were shaped by the city's rich multicultural environment, which nurtured an entire generation of writers, intellectuals, and translators.
In 1904, she married Osip Abramovich Blinderman in Odessa. Her husband would later become known in Italy under the literary pseudonym Ossip Felyne. Their marriage marked the beginning of a shared journey that would eventually take them across Europe and into exile.
Emigration
In the early twentieth century, Neanova left the Russian Empire with her husband, who had embarked on studies and professional work abroad. The couple lived in France, first in Nancy and later in Paris, before moving to Switzerland.
In 1906, their daughter Erna was born in Zurich. She would later establish herself in Italian literary circles under the pseudonym Iris Felyne.
In 1915, Neanova and her family moved to Italy, settling first in Liguria and subsequently living in Rome, Naples, and Milan. Little is known about her professional or literary activities before her arrival in Italy.
Literary Career
From the 1920s onwards, Neanova published comedies and short stories in Italian literary journals, including L'Epoca, Le opere e i giorni, and Teatro per tutti. She also translated works by contemporary Russian-language writers into Italian, including those who had left Russia following the revolution.
Working with Caesar Stadlin, she translated Ivan Shmelyov's Memoirs of a Waiter in 1928, followed by Leo Tolstoy's Father Sergius in 1929.
Neanova initially wrote her novels in Russian before bringing them to Italian readers through translation. Her first novel, Immortalità (Immortality), was translated into Italian by Federico Verdinois, a distinguished Neapolitan scholar of Russian literature. Her second novel, Forze oscure (Dark Forces), was translated by Neanova herself and published by Bietti as part of a series devoted to prominent Russian émigré writers. Between 1930 and 1933, the series was overseen by Rinaldo Küfferle.
In Immortalità, Neanova constructs a striking contrast between Russia and Italy. Russia, represented by St Petersburg, emerges as a sombre and oppressive world, while Italy appears as a sunlit southern landscape, vibrant, welcoming, and almost idealised.
For many Russians, Italy seemed to promise a land of "love, blue skies, and songs." Cities such as Venice, Bologna, and Rome are portrayed through the astonished eyes of a traveller from the north, while the Roman countryside takes on the qualities of a mythical, sun-drenched landscape.
A similar vision of Italy as a place of refuge and renewal appears in her third novel, Una donna russa (A Russian Woman). Yet its heroine experiences a profound sense of displacement, feeling herself a stranger, unwanted and out of place, in both Italy and Russia.
Alongside her novels and translations, Neanova wrote numerous one-act comedies, many of which appeared in the monthly magazine Teatro per tutti, published in Milan by Bietti under the direction of Ossip Felyne. Her plays enjoyed considerable success on Italian stages during the 1930s.
Among her most successful works was Stelle spente (Extinguished Stars, 1928), a comedy co-written with her husband. Other notable plays included Messalina and La signorina Lievito (Miss Lievito), both published in 1934 and performed at Milan's Teatro Manzoni.
Later Years and Legacy
Neanova spent her final years in Bordighera, on the Ligurian coast, where she was buried in a Catholic cemetery alongside her husband.
Her daughter, Erna Blinderman (1906–1988), became a writer and translator under the pseudonym Iris Felyne. Following her marriage, she was also known as Erna Gandolfi.
Neanova's cousin, Alexander Akimovich Bisk, was a poet.
Publications
● Immortalità. Translated into Italian by Federico Verdinois. Rome: Stock, 1925.● Forze oscure. Milan: Bietti, 1930. 317 pp.● Anna Karenina: dramma in 4 atti e 5 quadri tratto dal romanzo omonimo di Leone Tolstoi. Dramatic adaptation by Lia Neanova and Ossip Felyne. Milan: Edizioni Teatro per tutti, 1931.● Una donna russa. Milan: Fratelli Manara, 1945.
Translations
● Leonid Andreyev. Il valzer dei cani: poema della solitudine, dramma in 4 atti. Authorised Italian translation by I. Neamova, O. Feline, and C. Castelli. Milan: Casa Editrice Sonzogno, 1927.● Fyodor Dostoevsky. Umiliati e offesi. Translated by O. Felyne, L. Neanova, and C. Giardini. Milan: Alpes, 1928.● Ivan Shmelyov. Memorie di un cameriere. Translated directly from Russian by Lia Neanova and Caesar Stadlin. Milan: Delta, 1928.● Leo Tolstoy. Padre Sergio. Translated by Lia Neanova. Milan: Delta, 1929.● Ilya Ehrenburg. L'amore di Gianna Ney: romanzo. Complete authorised translation from Russian by Lia Neanova. Milan: Corbaccio, 1929; Milan: Dall'Oglio, 1966.● A. P. Sytin. Il pastore delle stirpi: romanzo. Translated from Russian by Lia Neanova. Milan: Modernissima, 1930.● Panteleimon Romanov. Tre paia di calze di seta: romanzo russo. Translated by Lia Neanova and Iris Felyne. Milan: Bietti, 1945.