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{{Short description|Italian journalist (1929–2006)}}
{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
| name =Oriana Fallaci
{{Infobox writer
| image =
|name = Oriana Fallaci
| caption =
|image = Oriana Fallaci self portrait Rolleiflex.jpg
| birthdate = {{Birth date|1929|6|29|df=y}}
|caption = Fallaci in 1960
| birthplace = ], ] <sup><small>1</small></sup>
| deathdate = {{death date and age|2006|09|15|1929|6|29|df=y}} |birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|06|29|df=y}}
| deathplace = ] |birth_place = ], ]
|death_date = {{death date and age|2006|09|15|1929|06|29|df=y}}
| occupation = ], ], political interviewer
|death_place = Florence, Italy
| genre =
|resting_place= ], Florence
| movement =
|occupation = {{flatlist|
| influences =
* Journalist
| influenced =
* author
| website =
* interviewer
}} }}
|genre=
'''Oriana Fallaci''' (29 June 1929<ref>, most sources indicate Fallaci was born on 29 June, but some sources indicate 24 July)
|movement=
</ref> – 15 September 2006) was an ] ], ], and political interviewer. A former ] during ], she had a long and successful journalistic career.
|influences=
|influenced=
}}

'''Oriana Fallaci''' ({{IPA|it|oˈrjaːna falˈlaːtʃi|lang}}; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian ] and author. A member of the ] during ], she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for her coverage of war and revolution, and her "long, aggressive and revealing interviews" with many world leaders during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.<ref name="ian-fisher">Ian Fisher, '']'', 16 September 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2020.</ref>

Fallaci's book '']'' contains interviews with ], ], ], ], ], Shah of Iran ], ], ] president ], and ] general ] during the ]. The interview with Kissinger was published in '']'', with Kissinger describing himself as "the ] who leads the ] by riding ahead alone on his horse". Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press".<ref>Cristina De Stefano, , lithub.com. Retrieved 26 November 2018.</ref>

Fallaci also interviewed ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ], among others. After retirement, she returned to the spotlight after writing a series of controversial articles and books ] that aroused condemnation for ] as well as popular support.


== Early life ==
She interviewed many internationally known leaders and celebrities such as the ], ], ], the ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], Archbishop ], ], ], ], ] and ].
Fallaci was born in ], Italy, on 29 June 1929.<ref>, most sources indicate Fallaci was born on 29 June, but some sources indicate 24 July</ref> Her father Edoardo Fallaci, a ] in Florence, was a ] struggling to put an end to the ] of ] leader ]. During ] she joined the Italian ] ] '']'', part of '']''. She later received a certificate for valour from the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oriana-fallaci.com/linfanzia/vita.html|title=Oriana Fallaci Official site|publisher=Oriana-fallaci.com|access-date=24 April 2013|archive-date=11 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211023908/http://www.oriana-fallaci.com/linfanzia/vita.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a 1976 retrospective collection of her works, she remarked:


{{quote|Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon&nbsp;... I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.<ref name="The New Yorker">{{cite book|title=The New Yorker|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tw8nAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=F-R Publishing Corporation|page=229|quote=Out of that experience there came a literal xenophobia. ... Colonel George Papadopoulos, who became Prime Minister and later President under the junta, said his purpose was to recreate the Greece of the Christian Greeks — "Ellas Elllnon ...}}</ref>}}
After retirement, she returned to the spotlight after writing a series of articles and books critical of ] and ]s that aroused both support as well as controversy and accusations of ] and intolerance.
==Life and career ==
=== The Resistance Movement ===
Fallaci was born in ], ]. During ], she joined the resistance despite her youth, in the democratic armed group "]". Her father Edoardo Fallaci, a cabinet maker in ], was a ] struggling to put an end to the ] of ] leader ]. It was during this period that Fallaci was first exposed to the atrocities of war. She later received a certificate for valour from the Italian army.<ref></ref> In a 1976 retrospective collection of her works, she remarked that:


== Career ==
{{bquote|Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon. . . . I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.<ref name="newyorker"/>}}


=== Beginning as a journalist === === Beginning as a journalist ===
Fallaci began her journalistic career in her teens, becoming a special correspondent for the Italian paper ''Il mattino dell'Italia centrale'' in 1946.<ref>Arico, Santo L. ''Oriana Fallaci: The Woman and the Myth'',p. 26. 1998, Southern Illinois University. ISBN 080932153X</ref> Starting in 1967 she worked as a war correspondent, in ], for the ], in the ], and in ]. After attaining her secondary school diploma, Fallaci briefly attended the ] where she studied medicine and chemistry. She later transferred to literature but soon dropped out and never finished her studies. Her uncle Bruno Fallaci, himself a journalist, suggested that Fallaci pursue a career in ].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stylos.it/default.asp?artID=73 |title=Stylos: Agenzia di comunicazione giornalistica, letteraria, editoriale - Roma |access-date=11 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522033155/http://www.stylos.it/default.asp?artID=73 |archive-date=22 May 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Fallaci began her career in journalism during her teens, becoming a special correspondent for the Italian paper ''Il mattino dell'Italia centrale'' in 1946.<ref>{{cite book|last=Arico|first=Santo L.|title=Oriana Fallaci: The Woman and the Myth|publisher=Southern Illinois University|year=1998|page=|isbn=0-8093-2153-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/orianafallaciwom00aric_0/page/26}}</ref> Beginning in 1967, she worked as a ] covering the Vietnam War, the ], the ], and in ].


=== 1960s === === 1960s ===
For many years, Fallaci was a special correspondent for the political magazine '']'' and wrote for a number of leading newspapers and '']'' magazine. During the 1968 ], prior to the ], Fallaci was shot three times, dragged down stairs by her hair, and left for dead by ] forces. In a profile of Fallaci, '']'' described her former support of the student activists as having "devolved into a dislike of Mexicans":<ref name="newyorker">, ], '']'', June 5, 2006.</ref> For many years, Fallaci was a special correspondent for the political magazine '']'', and wrote for a number of leading newspapers and the magazine '']''. In ], during the 1968 ], Fallaci was shot three times by Mexican soldiers, dragged downstairs by her hair, and left for dead. Her eyewitness account became important evidence disproving the Mexican government's denials that a massacre had taken place.<ref name="newyorker">, ], '']'', 5 June 2006.</ref>


In the 1960s she began conducting interviews, first with people in the world of literature and cinema (published in book form in 1963 as ''Gli antipatici'') and later with world leaders (published in the 1973 book ''Intervista con la storia''), which have led some to describe her as "during the 1970s and 80s the most famous – and feared – interviewer in the world".<ref>Caroline Moorehead, , '']'', 22–29 December 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2020.</ref><ref>, '']'', 16 September 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2020.</ref><ref>Sylvia Poggioli, , ]. Retrieved 8 April 2020.</ref>
{{bquote|The demonstrations by immigrants in the United States these past few months "disgust" her, especially when protesters displayed the Mexican flag. "I don't love the Mexicans," Fallaci said, invoking her nasty treatment at the hands of Mexican police in 1968. "If you hold a gun and say, 'Choose who is worse between the Muslims and the Mexicans,' I have a moment of hesitation. Then I choose the Muslims, because they have broken my balls."<ref name="newyorker"/>}}


=== 1970s === === 1970s ===
In the early 1970s Fallaci had an affair with the subject of one of her interviews, ], who had been a solitary figure in the Greek resistance against the 1967 dictatorship, having been captured, heavily tortured and imprisoned for his (unsuccessful) ] on dictator and ex-Colonel ]. Panagoulis died in 1976, under controversial circumstances, in a road accident. Fallaci maintained that Panagoulis was assassinated by remnants of the ] and her book ''Un Uomo'' (''A Man'') was inspired by his life. In the early 1970s, Fallaci had a relationship with the subject of one of her interviews, ], who had been a solitary figure in the Greek resistance against the ] known as the ]. Panagoulis had been captured, heavily tortured and imprisoned for his (unsuccessful) ] on dictator and former ] colonel ]. Panagoulis died in 1976, under controversial circumstances, in a road accident. Fallaci maintained that Panagoulis' "accident" had been arranged by remnants of the ] despite the ], and her book ] was inspired by his life.
During her 1972 interview with ], Kissinger agreed that the ] was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the ] who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse."<ref>Fallaci, Oriana. ''Interview with History'', p.40-41. Translated by John Shepley. 1976, Liveright Press. ISBN 0871405903</ref> Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press."<ref></ref>


During her 1972 interview with Henry Kissinger, Kissinger stated that the ] was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse".<ref>Fallaci, Oriana. ''Interview with History'', p.40-41. Translated by John Shepley. 1976, Liveright Press. {{ISBN|0-87140-590-3}}</ref> Kissinger later claimed that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press".<ref>{{cite news|author=Adam Bernstein|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091501145_pf.html|title=Reporter-Provocateur Oriana Fallaci|newspaper= The Washington Post|date=15 September 2006|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref> In 1973, she interviewed ].<ref name=cjer80>{{cite journal|last=Jerome|first=Carole|title=Back to the Veil|journal=New Internationalist|date=1 September 1980|issue=91|url=http://newint.org/features/1980/09/01/women/|access-date=3 August 2013}}</ref> She later stated, "He considers women simply as graceful ornaments, incapable of thinking like a man, and then strives to give them complete equality of rights and duties".<ref name=cjer80 /> After interviewing ], she described him as "One of the most stupid men I've ever met in my life, maybe the most stupid".<ref>, ''Rollingstone.com'' (June 17 1976).</ref>
During her 1979 interview with ], she addressed him as a "tyrant" and managed to unveil herself from the ]:
] (1979). To interview the Ayatollah ], she was required to wear a ]. During the interview, she removed it and attacked the obligation of women to wear it.]]


During her 1979 interview with ], she addressed him as a "tyrant", and managed to unveil herself from the ]:
{{bquote|OF- I still have to ask you a lot of things. About the "chador," for example, which I was obliged to wear to come and interview you, and which you impose on Iranian women. I am not only referring to the dress but to what it represents, I mean the apartheid Iranian women have been forced into after the revolution. They cannot study at the university with men, they cannot work with men, they cannot swim in the sea or in a swimming-pool with men. They have to do everything separately, wearing their "chador." By the way, how can you swim wearing a "chador"?<br />

AK- None of this concerns you, our customs do not concern you. If you don't like the islamic dress you are not obliged to wear it, since it is for young women and respectable ladies.<br />
{{quote|'''OF:''' I still have to ask you a lot of things. About the "chador", for example, which I was obliged to wear to come and interview you, and which you impose on Iranian women.... I am not only referring to the dress, but to what it represents, I mean the apartheid Iranian women have been forced into after the revolution. They cannot study at the university with men, they cannot work with men, they cannot swim in the sea or in a swimming-pool with men. They have to do everything separately, wearing their "chador". By the way, how can you swim wearing a "chador"?<br />
OF- This is very kind of you, Imam, since you tell me that, I'm going to immediately rid myself of this stupid medieval rag. There !''.<ref>OF - La prego, Imam: devo chiederle ancora molte cose. Di questo "chador" a esempio, che mi hanno messo addosso per venire da lei e che lei impone alle donne, non mi riferisco soltanto a un indumento ma a ciò che esso rappresenta: cioè la segregazione in cui le donne sono state rigettate dopo la Rivoluzione. Il fatto stesso che non possano studiare all'università con gli uomini, ad esempio, né lavorare con gli uomini, né fare il bagno in mare o in piscina con gli uomini. Devono tuffarsi a parte con il "chador". A proposito, come si fa a nuotare con il "chador"? AK - Tutto questo non la riguarda. I nostri costumi non vi riguardano. Se la veste islamica non le piace, non è obbligata a portarla. Perché la veste islamica è per le donne giovani e perbene. OF - Molto gentile. E, visto che mi dice così, mi tolgo subito questo stupido cencio da medioevo. Ecco fatto. </ref>}}
'''AK:''' None of this concerns you, our customs do not concern you. If you don't like the Islamic dress, you are not obliged to wear it, since it is for young women and respectable ladies.<br />
'''OF:''' Very kind (of you). Since you tell me that, I'm going to immediately rid myself of this stupid medieval rag. There!<ref>OF – La prego, Imam: devo chiederle ancora molte cose. Di questo "chador" a esempio, che mi hanno messo addosso per venire da lei e che lei impone alle donne, non mi riferisco soltanto a un indumento ma a ciò che esso rappresenta: cioè la segregazione in cui le donne sono state rigettate dopo la Rivoluzione. Il fatto stesso che non possano studiare all'università con gli uomini, ad esempio, né lavorare con gli uomini, né fare il bagno in mare o in piscina con gli uomini. Devono tuffarsi a parte con il "chador". A proposito, come si fa a nuotare con il "chador"? AK – Tutto questo non la riguarda. I nostri costumi non vi riguardano. Se la veste islamica non le piace, non è obbligata a portarla. Perché la veste islamica è per le donne giovani e perbene. OF – Molto gentile. E, visto che mi dice così, mi tolgo subito questo stupido cencio da medioevo. Ecco fatto. </ref>}}

=== 1980s ===
]
In 1980 Fallaci interviewed ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129152051/http://en.people.cn/dengxp/vol2/text/b1470.html |date=29 January 2020 }}, '']'', people.cn. Retrieved 7 April 2020.</ref><ref>Oriana Fallaci, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829143815/http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/awweb/awarchive?type=file&item=472059 |date=29 August 2019 }}, '']'', 31 August 1980, online clipping at digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu. Retrieved 7 April 2020.</ref> ] described this interview as the "most revealing ever of any Chinese leader by any western journalist", during which Deng spoke about ] "extraordinarily frankly by Chinese standards" whereas most Western interviews with Chinese leaders have been "bland and dull".<ref>Michael Rank, , '']'', 19 September 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2020.</ref>


=== Retirement === === Retirement ===
Living in ] and in a house she owned in ], Fallaci lectured at the ], ], ], and ].{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} Living in ] and in a house she owned in ], Fallaci lectured at the ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg364v_RmvkC&pg=PA216|title=Fighting Suicide Bombing: A Worldwide Campaign for Life|first=Israel|last=Chamy|publisher=Greenwood|year=2007|isbn=978-0-275-99336-8|access-date=10 February 2016}}</ref>


=== After 9/11 === === After 9/11 ===
After ], Fallaci wrote three books critical of ] and ] in general, and in both writing and interviews warned that Europe was "too tolerant of ]s". The first book was '']'' (initially a four-page article in '']'', the major national newspaper in Italy). In this book, she calls for the destruction of what is now called Islam.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Oriana Fallaci, Incisive Italian Journalist, Is Dead at 77|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 September 2006|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/books/16fallaci.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317134742/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/books/16fallaci.html|archive-date=17 March 2018|url-status=live|last1=Fisher|first1=Ian}}</ref>


She wrote that the "sons of Allah breed like rats", and in a '']'' interview in 2005, she said that Europe was no longer Europe but "]".<ref name="ian-fisher" /> ''The Rage and the Pride'' and '']'' both became bestsellers, the former selling over one million copies in Italy and 500,000 in the rest of Europe,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://observer.com/2003/01/the-rage-of-oriana-fallaci/|title=The Rage of Oriana Fallaci|work=Observer|date=27 January 2003}}</ref> and are considered part of the "Eurabia genre".<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263485050|title=Eurabia Comes to Norway|page=3|journal=Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations|date=July 2013|doi=10.1080/09596410.2013.783969|first=Sindre|last=Bangstad|volume=24 |issue=3 |s2cid=145132618 }}</ref> Her third book in the same vein, ''Oriana Fallaci intervista sé stessa – L'Apocalisse'' ("The Apocalypse"), sold some two million copies globally,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/sep/16/guardianobituaries.italy|title=Obituary: Oriana Fallaci|date=16 September 2006|work=The Guardian}}</ref> the three books together selling four million copies in Italy.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/06/05/the-agitator|title=The Agitator|date=28 May 2006|magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref>
After ], beginning with '']'' (initially a four-page article in '']'', the major national newspaper in Italy), Fallaci wrote three books critical of ] and ] in general, and in both writing and interviews warned that Europe was too tolerant of ]s. She wrote that "sons of Allah breed like rats" and in a ''Wall Street Journal'' interview in 2005, said that Europe was no longer Europe but "]."<ref> by Ian Fisher, '']'', September 16, 2006.</ref> '']'' and '']'' both became best-sellers.


Her writings have been translated into 21 languages, including ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ].
Fallaci was a life-long heavy smoker. She died on September 15, 2006 in her native ] from cancer.


== Personal life and death ==
Her writings have been translated into 21 languages including ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ].
], Oriana Fallaci]]


On 27 August 2005, Fallaci had a private audience with ] at ]. Although an atheist,<ref>Gianni Pasquarelli, ''I naturali sentieri della tranquillità'', Rubbettino Editore, 2004, p. 132.</ref> Fallaci reportedly had great respect for the Pope and expressed admiration for his 2004 essay titled "If Europe Hates Itself".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phibetacons.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGY5ZDJkZWQ2MzRjMmNmNzcwNzg5MjQ5NDgyYmU2YWE=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608020835/http://phibetacons.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGY5ZDJkZWQ2MzRjMmNmNzcwNzg5MjQ5NDgyYmU2YWE=|url-status=dead|title=Phi Beta Cons on ''National Review Online''|archive-date=8 June 2008}}</ref><ref>, '']'', 23 June 2005.</ref> Despite being an atheist, in '']'', she claimed that she was also a "]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antisharia.com/2011/11/13/oriana-fallaci1929-2006italian-journalist-and-feministwho-was-anti-islamalso-said-she-was-a-christian-atheist/|title=Oriana Fallaci (1929–2006), Italian journalist, atheist and feminist, who was anti-Islam, also said she was a Christian atheist|publisher=Anti-Sharia|date=13 November 2011|access-date=10 February 2016|archive-date=3 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103075812/http://www.antisharia.com/2011/11/13/oriana-fallaci1929-2006italian-journalist-and-feministwho-was-anti-islamalso-said-she-was-a-christian-atheist/}}</ref><ref>], , '']'', December 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2020.</ref> Fallaci was a vocal critic of Islam, especially after the ] and the 9/11 attacks. When rumours of the construction of an Islamic centre in the city of ] intensified, Fallaci told '']'' "If the Muslims build this Islamic center, she will blow it up with the help of her friends".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Oriana Fallaci, Incisive Italian Journalist, Is Dead at 77|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 September 2006|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/books/16fallaci.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317134742/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/books/16fallaci.html|archive-date=17 March 2018|url-status=live|last1=Fisher|first1=Ian}}</ref>
== Awards ==


Fallaci died on 15 September 2006, in her native ], from cancer. She was buried in the ] in the southern suburb of ], ], alongside her family members and a stone memorial to ], her late companion.
Fallaci twice received the St. Vincent Prize for journalism, as well as the Bancarella Prize (1971) for ''Nothing, and So Be It''; Viareggio Prize (1979), for ''Un uomo: Romanzo''; and Prix Antibes, 1993, for ''Inshallah''. She received a D.Litt. from Columbia College (Chicago).


== Legacy ==
On November 30, 2005 in New York, Fallaci received the ] Award for courage from the ]. She was honored for the "heroism and the values" that rendered her "a symbol of the fight against ] and a knight of the freedom of humankind." The Annie Taylor Award is annually awarded to people who have demonstrated unusual courage in adverse conditions and great danger. ], founder of the center, described Fallaci as "a General in the fight for freedom."
As of 2018, streets or squares have been renamed after her in ], ], and ].<ref name=Jazeera /> A public garden has also been dedicated to her in ], an industrial town close to ].<ref name=Jazeera />


In July 2019, the ] approved the creation of low-denomination treasury bills that could also be used as a ] parallel currency to the ]. According to the plan's main proponent, the ]'s MP ], the 20-euro bill should bear a picture of Fallaci.<ref name=Jazeera>{{Cite web |url= https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/resurgence-oriana-fallaci-anti-islam-message-italy-190813110101411.html |title= The resurgence of Oriana Fallaci's anti-Islam message in Italy |first= Giorgio |last= Ghiglione |website= www.aljazeera.com}}</ref>
On December 8, 2005 Oriana Fallaci was awarded the ], the highest recognition of the city of ].


An Italian television series was created about her life, titled ] (2024).
Acting on a proposal by Minister of Education ], on December 14, 2005 the ] of the ] ], ], awarded Oriana Fallaci a Gold Medal for her cultural contributions (''Benemerita della Cultura''). The state of her health prevented her from attending the ceremony. She wrote in a speech: "This gold medal moves me because it gratifies my efforts as writer and journalist, my front line engagement to defend our culture, love for my country and for freedom. My current well known health situation prevents me from traveling and receiving in person this gift that for me, a woman not used to medals and not too keen on trophies, has an intense ethical and moral significance." <ref>"Questa medaglia d'oro mi commuove perché gratifica la mia fatica di scrittore e di giornalista, il mio impegno a difesa della nostra cultura, il mio amore per il mio Paese e per la Libertà. Le attuali e ormai note ragioni di salute mi impediscono di viaggiare e ritirare direttamente un omaggio che per me, donna poco abituata alle medaglie e poco incline ai trofei, ha un intenso significato etico e morale."</ref>


In 2024, a ], '']'', was published by author ] based on the true story of Fallaci's career and personal life.
On February 12, 2006, the Governor of Tuscany, ], awarded Fallaci a gold medal from the Council of Tuscany. Nencini reported that the prize was awarded as Oriana Fallaci was a beacon of Tuscan culture in the world. During the award ceremony, held in New York, the writer talked about her attempt to create a caricature of ], in reply to the polemic relating to similar caricatures that had appeared in French and Dutch newspapers. She declared: "I will draw Mohammed with his 9 wives, including the little baby he married when 70 years old, the 16 concubines and a female camel wearing a Burqa. So far my pencil stopped at the image of the camel, but my next attempt will surely be better."


== Controversy == == Awards ==
Fallaci twice received the St. Vincent Prize for journalism (1967, 1971). She also received the ] (1970) for ''Nothing, and So Be It''; ] (1979), for ''Un uomo: Romanzo''; and Prix Antibes, 1993, for ''Inshallah''. She received a ] from ].


On 30 November 2005, in New York City, Fallaci received the ] Award for courage from the ]. She was honoured for the "heroism and the values" that rendered her "a symbol of the fight against ] and a knight of the freedom of humankind". The Annie Taylor Award is annually awarded to people who have demonstrated unusual courage in adverse conditions and great danger. ], founder of the center, described Fallaci as "a General in the fight for freedom". On 8 December 2005, Fallaci was awarded the Ambrogino d'oro (Golden Ambrogino), the highest recognition of the city of ].<ref>, '']'', 18 November 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2020.</ref> She also received the ].
{{Criticism of Islam sidebar}}


Acting on a proposal by the Minister of Education ], on 14 December 2005, the ] of the Italian ], ], awarded Fallaci a gold medal for her cultural contributions (''Benemerita della Cultura''). The state of her health prevented her from attending the ceremony. She wrote in a speech: "This gold medal moves me because it gratifies my efforts as writer and journalist, my front line engagement to defend our culture, love for my country and for freedom. My current well-known health situation prevents me from travelling and receiving in person this gift that for me, a woman not used to medals and not too keen on trophies, has an intense ethical and moral significance."<ref>"Questa medaglia d'oro mi commuove perché gratifica la mia fatica di scrittore e di giornalista, il mio impegno a difesa della nostra cultura, il mio amore per il mio Paese e per la Libertà. Le attuali e ormai note ragioni di salute mi impediscono di viaggiare e ritirare direttamente un omaggio che per me, donna poco abituata alle medaglie e poco incline ai trofei, ha un intenso significato etico e morale".</ref>
She received much public attention for her controversial writings and statements on ] and European ]s. Both agreement and disagreements have been published on Italian newspapers (among which, '']'' and '']'' had a series of articles), and David Holcberg at the ] supported her cause with a letter to '']''.<ref>, letter to the ] by David Holcberg of the ], publ. June 1, 2005.</ref>


On 12 February 2006, the president of Tuscany, ], awarded Fallaci a gold medal from the Council of Tuscany. Nencini reported that the prize was awarded as Fallaci was {{citation needed span|a beacon of Tuscan culture in the world.|date=March 2016}} During the award ceremony, held in New York City, the writer talked about her attempt to create a ] of ], following the polemic relating to similar caricatures that had appeared in ] and ]. {{Citation needed span|She declared: "I will draw Mohammed with his 9 wives, including the little baby he married when 70 years old, the 16 concubines, and a female camel wearing a Burqa. So far my pencil stopped at the image of the camel, but my next attempt will surely be better."|date=March 2016}}
Fallaci received support in Italy, where her books have sold over one million copies.<ref>, '']'', August 8, 2004.</ref><ref>, '']'', July 18, 2005.</ref> At the first ], which was held in Florence in November 2002, Fallaci invited the people of Florence to cease commercial operations and stay home. Furthermore, she compared the ESF to the ] occupation of ]. Protest organizers declared, "We have done it for Oriana, because she hasn't spoken in public for the last 12 years, and hasn't been laughing in the last 50."<ref>, ], November 8, 2002.</ref>


She received the ''America Award'' of the ] in 2010 (in memoriam).<ref> ]</ref>
In 2002 in ] the Islamic Center and the Somal Association of ], ] of ], along with a private citizen, sued Fallaci for the allegedly "racist" content of ''The Rage and The Pride''.<ref>, ], March 31, 2003</ref><ref>, from ], July 1, 2002.</ref> In November 2002 a Swiss judge issued an arrest warrant for violations of article 261 and 261 bis of the Swiss criminal code and requested the Italian government to either prosecute or extradite her. Italian ] ] rejected the request on the grounds that the ] protects ].<ref></ref>


== Controversy ==
In May 2005, ], president of the ], launched a lawsuit against Fallaci charging that "some of the things she said in her book ''The Force of Reason'' are offensive to Islam." Smith's attorney cited 18 phrases, most notably a reference to Islam as "a pool that never purifies." <ref></ref><ref name="icare.to"></ref> Consequently an Italian judge ordered Fallaci to stand trial in ] on charges of "defaming Islam." The preliminary trial began on 12 June and on 25 June Judge Beatrice Siccardi decided that Oriana Fallaci should indeed stand trial beginning on 18 December.<ref>, '']'', June 26, 2006.</ref> Fallaci accused the judge of having disregarded the fact that Smith had called for her murder and defamed Christianity.<ref></ref>
Fallaci received much public attention for her controversial writings and statements on ] and European ]s. She claimed that Muslims were ] Europe through ] and ], in line with the ] concept.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/12/oriana-fallaci-journalist-views-islamism/544736/ | title=How Oriana Fallaci's Writings on Islamism Are Remembered—and Reviled | website=] | date=15 December 2017 }}</ref>


Fallaci received criticism as well as support in Italy, where her books have sold over one million copies.<ref>, '']'', 8 August 2004.</ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060111114833/http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8449 |date=11 January 2006 }}, '']'', 18 July 2005.</ref> At the first ], which was held in ] in November 2002, Fallaci invited the people of Florence to cease commercial operations and stay home. Furthermore, she compared the ESF to the ] occupation of ]. Protest organizers declared, "We have done it for Oriana, because she hasn't spoken in public for the last 12 years and hasn't been laughing in the last 50".<ref>, ], 8 November 2002.</ref>
In France, some Arab-Muslim and anti-defamation organisations such as ] and ''Ligue des Droits de l'Homme'' launched lawsuits against Oriana Fallaci charging that ''The Rage and The Pride'' and ''The Force of Reason'' (''La Rage et l'Orgueil'' and ''La Force de la Raison'' in their French versions) were "offensive to Islam" and "racist."<ref name="icare.to"/> Her lawyer, Gilles William Goldnadel,<ref>http://fides.ifrance.com/html/fallaci.html</ref> president of the France-Israel Organization, was also ]'s lawyer during similar lawsuits against del Valle.


In 2002, in ], the Islamic Center and the Somal Association of ], ] of ], along with a private citizen, sued Fallaci for the allegedly racist content of ''The Rage and the Pride''.<ref>, ], 31 March 2003</ref><ref>, from ], 1 July 2002.</ref> In November 2002, a Swiss judge issued an arrest warrant for violations of articles 261 and 261 bis of the ] and requested the Italian government to either prosecute or ] her. Italian ] ] rejected the request on the grounds that the ] protects ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.padania.to.it/countach/Numero9/Articoli9/Fallaci%20-%20Mandato%20arresto.htm|title=The force of Reason'|language=it|work=Padania|access-date=24 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023033606/http://www.padania.to.it/countach/Numero9/Articoli9/Fallaci%20-%20Mandato%20arresto.htm|archive-date=23 October 2013}}</ref>
On 3 June 2005, Fallaci had published on the front page of an Italian daily newspaper a highly controversial article entitled "''Noi Cannibali e i figli di ]''" ("We cannibals and Medea's offspring"), urging women not to vote for a public ] about ] that was held on June 12 and 13, 2006.<ref>, by Oriana Fallaci, June 2005.</ref>


In May 2005, ], president of the Union of Italian Muslims, launched a lawsuit against Fallaci charging that "some of the things she said in her book ''The Force of Reason'' are offensive to Islam". Smith's attorney cited 18 phrases, most notably a reference to Islam as "a pool that never purifies".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://neveryetmelted.com/2006/06/12/oriana-fallaci-trial-begins-in-italy/|title=Oriana Fallaci Trial Begins in Italy|work=Never yet melted|date=12 June 2006|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref><ref name="icare.to">{{cite web|url=http://www.icare.to/archivenovemberanddecember2002.html#FRENCH%20COURT%20THROWS%20OUT%20LAWSUIT%20ON%20ANTI-ISLAM%20BOOK|title=French Court Throws Out Lawsuit on Anti-Islam Book|publisher=Icare|access-date=24 April 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121019/http://www.icare.to/archivenovemberanddecember2002.html#FRENCH%20COURT%20THROWS%20OUT%20LAWSUIT%20ON%20ANTI-ISLAM%20BOOK|url-status=dead}}</ref> Consequently, an Italian judge ordered Fallaci to stand trial in ] on charges of "] Islam". The preliminary trial began on 12 June, and on 25 June, Judge Beatrice Siccardi decided that Fallaci should indeed stand trial beginning on 18 December.<ref>, '']'', 26 June 2006.</ref> Fallaci accused the judge of having disregarded the fact that Smith had called for her murder and defamed Christianity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2006/09_Settembre/15/falultimopezzo.shtml |title=Il nemico che trattiamo da amico|work=Corriere della Sera|date=15 September 2006|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref>
On 27 August 2005, Fallaci had a private audience with ] at ]. Although an atheist, Fallaci reportedly had great respect for the Pope and expressed admiration for his 2004 essay titled "If Europe Hates Itself."<ref></ref><ref>, '']'', June 23, 2005.</ref>


In France, some Arab-Muslim and anti-defamation organisations such as ] and '']'' launched lawsuits against Oriana Fallaci, charging that ''The Rage and the Pride'' and ''The Force of Reason'' (''La Rage et l'Orgueil'' and ''La Force de la Raison'' in their French translations) were "offensive to Islam" and "racist".<ref name="icare.to" /> Her lawyer, ],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-fallaci-affair/|title=The Fallaci Affair|first=Christopher|last=Caldwell|publisher=Commentary Magazine|date=1 October 2002|access-date=10 February 2016}}</ref> president of the France-Israel Organization, was also ]'s lawyer during similar lawsuits against del Valle.
In the June 2006 issue of '']'', ] writer ] wrote:
"Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci's 2002 book ''The Rage and the Pride'' makes hardly any distinction between radical ]s and ] street vendors who supposedly urinate on the corners of Italy's great cities. ], who described the book in '']'' as "a sort of primer in how not to write about Islam," notes that Fallaci's diatribes have all the marks of other infamous screeds about filthy, disease-ridden, sexually threatening aliens."<ref>, from '']'', June 2006.</ref>


On 3 June 2005, Fallaci published on the front page of the '']'' a highly controversial article titled "''Noi Cannibali e i figli di ]''" ("We cannibals and Medea's offspring"), urging women not to vote for a public ] about ] that was held on 12 and 13 June 2006.<ref>, Oriana Fallaci, June 2005. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023221140/http://www.donboscoland.it/articoli/visualizzaarticolo.pax?ID=1280&idrealta=1 |date=23 October 2013 }}</ref>
==Bibliography==

*''The Seven Sins of Hollywood'' preface by ], Longanesi (Milan), 1958.
In her 2004 book ''Oriana Fallaci intervista sé stessa – L'Apocalisse'', Fallaci expressed her opposition to ], arguing that it "subvert the biological concept of family" and calling it "a fashionable whim, a form of exhibitionism", and also against ], declaring it a "distorted view of life". She also asserted the existence of a "]", through which "the homosexuals themselves are discriminating against others".<ref>{{cite book|last=Fallaci|first=Oriana|year=2004|title=Oriana Fallaci intervista sé stessa – L'Apocalisse|place=Milan|publisher=Rizzoli|page=262}}</ref>
*''The Useless Sex: Voyage around the Woman'' Horizon Press (New York City), 1961.

*''Penelope at War'' 1962 (London).
In the June 2006 issue of '']'', ] writer ] wrote: "Oriana Fallaci's 2002 book ''The Rage and the Pride'' makes hardly any distinction between radical ] and ] ] who supposedly urinate on the corners of Italy's great cities." ], writing in '']'', called the book "a sort of primer in how not to write about Islam", describing it as "replete with an obsessive interest in excrement, disease, sexual mania, and insect-like reproduction, insofar as these apply to Muslims in general and to Muslim immigrants in Europe in particular".<ref>, ], June 2006.</ref>
*''Limelighters'' 1963.

*''The Egotists: Sixteen Surprising Interviews'' Regnery (Chicago), 1968.
== Bibliography ==
*''Quel giorno sulla Luna'' Rizzoli, 1970.
* , (''The Seven Sins of Hollywood''), preface by ]), Milan: ], 1958; Best BUR, 2014 (digital edition).
*''Interview With History'', a collection of interviews with various political figures Liveright, 1976.
* , ], Milan, 1961; Best BUR, 2014 (digital edition); English translation (Pamela Swinglehurst, tr.): ''The Useless Sex: Voyage around the Woman'', New York: ], 1964.
*'']'', a novel about a hero who fights alone and to the death for freedom and for truth (1979) ISBN 8427938543
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1962; Best BUR, 2014 (digital edition); English translation, ''Penelope at War'', London: Michael Joseph, 1966, Pamela Swinglehurst, tr.
*''Inshallah'', a fictional account of Italian troops stationed in ] in 1983.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1963; Best BUR, 2014 (digital edition); English translation (Pamela Swinglehurst, tr.): ''Limelighters'', London: Michael Joseph, 1967, and '''', Chicago: ], 1968. Interviews with ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].
*''If the Sun Dies'', about the US space program.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1965; Best BUR, 2010 (digital edition); English translation (Pamela Swinglehurst, tr.): '''': New York, ], 1966, and London: Collins, 1967. About the ].
*'']'', a dialogue between a mother and her eventually miscarried child.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1969; Best BUR, 2010 (digital edition); English translation (Isabel Quigly, tr.): ], New York: ], 1972,<ref>, cia.gov. Retrieved 7 April 2020.</ref> and ''Nothing and Amen'', London: Michael Joseph, 1972. A report on the ] based on personal experiences.<ref>, kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 7 April 2020.</ref>
*''Nothing, and so be it'', report on the ] based on personal experiences.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1972; Best BUR, 2010 (digital edition).
*'']'' (''La Rabbia e l'Orgoglio''), an expose on Islam. Rizzoli, December 2001. ISBN 0847825043.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1974; Best BR, 2008 (digital edition); English translation (John Shepley, tr.): '']'', New York: ], 1976; London: Michael Joseph, 1976; Boston: ], 1977. A collection of interviews with sixteen political figures.
*'']'' (''La Forza della Ragione''). Rizzoli, April 2004. ISBN 0847827534
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1975; Best BUR, 2014 (digital edition); English translation (John Shepley, tr.): '']'', New York: ], 1976, and London: Arlington Books, 1976. A dialogue between a mother and her eventually ] child.
*''Oriana Fallaci intervista Oriana Fallaci'', Fallaci interviews herself on the subject of "]" and "]". (Milan: ''Corriere della Sera'', August 2004).
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1979; Best BUR, 2010 (digital edition); English translation (William Weaver, tr.): '']'', New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980. A novel about ], a ] revolutionary hero who fights alone and to the death for freedom and truth.
*''Oriana Fallaci intervista sé stessa - L'Apocalisse'' (in Italian). An update of the interview with herself. A new, long epilogue is added. Publisher: Rizzoli, November 2004.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 1990; Best BUR, 2014 (digital edition); English translation (by Oriana Fallaci, working from a translation by James Marcus): '']'', New York: Doubleday, 1992, and London: ], 1992. A fictional account of Italian troops stationed in ] in 1983.
*''Un cappello pieno di ciliegie'', Rizzoli, 2008. A novel about her ancestors, published two years after her death. Fallaci worked on it for ten years, until the September 11 attacks and her books inspired by them.
* ''La Rabbia e l'orgoglio'' Milan: Rizzoli, 2001; English translation: '']'', New York: Rizzoli, 2002. {{ISBN|0-8478-2504-3}}. A post-] manifesto.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 2004; Best BUR, 2014 (digital edition); English translation: '''', New York: ], 2004. {{ISBN|0-8478-2753-4}}. A sequel to ''La Rabbia e l'orgoglio'' (''The Rage and the Pride'').
* ''Oriana Fallaci intervista Oriana Fallaci'', Milan: ''Corriere della Sera'', August 2004; not translated into English.<ref name="douglas-murray">], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428042005/https://standpointmag.co.uk/features-november-2017-douglas-murray-brava-oriana-fallaci/ |date=28 April 2020 }}, '']'', 20 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2020.</ref> Fallaci interviews herself on the subject of "]" and "]".
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 2004. An update (in Italian) of the interview with herself. A new, long epilogue is added.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 2008; BURbig, 2010 (digital edition); not translated into English.<ref name="douglas-murray" /> A novel about her ancestors, published ]. Fallaci worked on it for ten years, until the 11 September attacks and her books inspired by them.
* , Milan: Rizzoli, 2010; Best BUR, 2010 (digital edition).
* '''', Milan: Rizzoli Vintage, 2015; BUR Rizzoli, 2016 (digital edition).


== See also == == See also ==
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
* ]


== References == == References ==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}


== External links == == Further reading ==
{{Wikiquote}}
*
'''Obituaries'''
* Obituary published by the Associated Press.
* by Alexandra Rizzo, ], 15 September 2006.
* by ]
* by ], '']'', December 2006.
* , '']'', 16 September 2006.
* by ]


'''Articles by Fallaci''' '''Articles by Fallaci'''
* , '']'', 2 December 1979 - interview (in Italian) with ]
*, English translation by Letizia Grasso, from the four-page essay "La Rabbia e l'Orgoglio", that appeared in Italy's leading newspaper ] on 29 September 2001. (Note that the official edition by Rizzoli, is translated by Fallaci herself)
* , English translation by Letizia Grasso, from the four-page essay "La Rabbia e l'Orgoglio", that appeared in Italy's leading newspaper ] on 29 September 2001. (Note that the official edition by Rizzoli is translated by Fallaci herself)
*, as translated by Chris Knipp
* , as translated by Chris Knipp
*, by Columnist Oriana Fallaci, IMRA - 25 April 2002 (Originally published in Italian in the Panorama magazine, 17 April 2002).
* , by columnist Oriana Fallaci, IMRA – 25 April 2002 (Originally published in Italian in the ], 17 April 2002).
* , with Stephen Banker circa 1972


'''Articles about Fallaci''' '''Articles about Fallaci'''
* by ], '']'', 16 October 2017.
*, by ]
* by Cristina De Stefano. 20 October 2017.
* - On the reception of "Rage and Pride" By Michael San Filippo, guide to Italian Language at ].
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427191939/https://womenintheworld.com/2017/10/16/oriana-fallaci-the-last-diva-journalist/ |date=27 April 2020 }} by Pieter Colpaert, womenintheworld.com, 16 October 2017.
* by ] in the ]<!--2005-->
* "Golda and Oriana: A Romance", in: ''The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership'' by ] (2010). {{ISBN|978-1-59264-278-6}}
* by Margaret Talbot in '']'', 29 May 2006
* , by ]
* by Judy Harris in ] (17 September 2006)
* – On the reception of "Rage and Pride" By Michael San Filippo, guide to Italian Language at ].
* by ] in '']''<!--2005-->
* by ] in '']'', 29 May 2006
* by Judy Harris in ], 17 September 2006
* by Linda Steiner, H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online, February 2003.
* by George Gurley, '']'', 27 January 2003.
* by ], ''The New York Times'', 25 January 1973.

'''Books about Fallaci'''
* John Gatt-Rutter, ''Oriana Fallaci: The Rhetoric of Freedom'', Oxford and Dulles, VA: Berg, 1996 (New Directions in European Writing series).
* Santo L. Aricò, ''Oriana Fallaci: The Woman and the Myth''. Carbondale, Ill. and Edwardsville, Ill.: ], 1998/2010.
* Santo L. Aricò, , Pittsburgh: ], 2013.
* Cristina De Stefano, '']''. Milan: Rizzoli, 2013; English translation: , New York: ], 2017, translated from the Italian by Marina Harss.

== External links ==
* – life, books, articles, interviews, clippings, photos and videos. (Archived version .)
* – quotations in original Italian


{{Oriana Fallaci}}
{{Bancarella Prize}} {{Bancarella Prize}}

{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 20:26, 3 January 2025

Italian journalist (1929–2006)

Oriana Fallaci
Fallaci in 1960Fallaci in 1960
Born(1929-06-29)29 June 1929
Florence, Italy
Died15 September 2006(2006-09-15) (aged 77)
Florence, Italy
Resting placeCimitero degli Allori, Florence
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
  • interviewer

Oriana Fallaci (Italian: [oˈrjaːna falˈlaːtʃi]; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. A member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for her coverage of war and revolution, and her "long, aggressive and revealing interviews" with many world leaders during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Fallaci's book Interview with History contains interviews with Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Yasser Arafat, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Willy Brandt, Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Henry Kissinger, South Vietnamese president Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, and North Vietnamese general Võ Nguyên Giáp during the Vietnam War. The interview with Kissinger was published in The New Republic, with Kissinger describing himself as "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse". Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press".

Fallaci also interviewed Deng Xiaoping, Andreas Papandreou, Ayatollah Khomeini, Haile Selassie, Lech Wałęsa, Muammar Gaddafi, Mário Soares, George Habash, and Alfred Hitchcock, among others. After retirement, she returned to the spotlight after writing a series of controversial articles and books critical of Islam that aroused condemnation for Islamophobia as well as popular support.

Early life

Fallaci was born in Florence, Italy, on 29 June 1929. Her father Edoardo Fallaci, a cabinet maker in Florence, was a political activist struggling to put an end to the dictatorship of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini. During World War II she joined the Italian anti-fascist resistance movement Giustizia e Libertà, part of Resistenza. She later received a certificate for valour from the Italian army. In a 1976 retrospective collection of her works, she remarked:

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon ... I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.

Career

Beginning as a journalist

After attaining her secondary school diploma, Fallaci briefly attended the University of Florence where she studied medicine and chemistry. She later transferred to literature but soon dropped out and never finished her studies. Her uncle Bruno Fallaci, himself a journalist, suggested that Fallaci pursue a career in journalism. Fallaci began her career in journalism during her teens, becoming a special correspondent for the Italian paper Il mattino dell'Italia centrale in 1946. Beginning in 1967, she worked as a war correspondent covering the Vietnam War, the Indo-Pakistani War, the Middle East, and in South America.

1960s

For many years, Fallaci was a special correspondent for the political magazine L'Europeo, and wrote for a number of leading newspapers and the magazine Epoca. In Mexico City, during the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, Fallaci was shot three times by Mexican soldiers, dragged downstairs by her hair, and left for dead. Her eyewitness account became important evidence disproving the Mexican government's denials that a massacre had taken place.

In the 1960s she began conducting interviews, first with people in the world of literature and cinema (published in book form in 1963 as Gli antipatici) and later with world leaders (published in the 1973 book Intervista con la storia), which have led some to describe her as "during the 1970s and 80s the most famous – and feared – interviewer in the world".

1970s

In the early 1970s, Fallaci had a relationship with the subject of one of her interviews, Alexandros Panagoulis, who had been a solitary figure in the Greek resistance against the military dictatorship known as the Regime of the Colonels. Panagoulis had been captured, heavily tortured and imprisoned for his (unsuccessful) assassination attempt on dictator and former Hellenic Army colonel Georgios Papadopoulos. Panagoulis died in 1976, under controversial circumstances, in a road accident. Fallaci maintained that Panagoulis' "accident" had been arranged by remnants of the Greek military junta despite the transition to a democracy, and her book Un Uomo (A Man) was inspired by his life.

During her 1972 interview with Henry Kissinger, Kissinger stated that the Vietnam War was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse". Kissinger later claimed that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press". In 1973, she interviewed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. She later stated, "He considers women simply as graceful ornaments, incapable of thinking like a man, and then strives to give them complete equality of rights and duties". After interviewing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she described him as "One of the most stupid men I've ever met in my life, maybe the most stupid".

Fallaci in Tehran (1979). To interview the Ayatollah Khomeini, she was required to wear a chador. During the interview, she removed it and attacked the obligation of women to wear it.

During her 1979 interview with Ayatollah Khomeini, she addressed him as a "tyrant", and managed to unveil herself from the chador:

OF: I still have to ask you a lot of things. About the "chador", for example, which I was obliged to wear to come and interview you, and which you impose on Iranian women.... I am not only referring to the dress, but to what it represents, I mean the apartheid Iranian women have been forced into after the revolution. They cannot study at the university with men, they cannot work with men, they cannot swim in the sea or in a swimming-pool with men. They have to do everything separately, wearing their "chador". By the way, how can you swim wearing a "chador"?

AK: None of this concerns you, our customs do not concern you. If you don't like the Islamic dress, you are not obliged to wear it, since it is for young women and respectable ladies.

OF: Very kind (of you). Since you tell me that, I'm going to immediately rid myself of this stupid medieval rag. There!

1980s

Oriana Fallaci in 1987

In 1980 Fallaci interviewed Deng Xiaoping. Michael Rank described this interview as the "most revealing ever of any Chinese leader by any western journalist", during which Deng spoke about Mao "extraordinarily frankly by Chinese standards" whereas most Western interviews with Chinese leaders have been "bland and dull".

Retirement

Living in New York City and in a house she owned in Tuscany, Fallaci lectured at the University of Chicago, Yale University, Harvard University and Columbia University.

After 9/11

After 11 September 2001, Fallaci wrote three books critical of Islamic extremists and Islam in general, and in both writing and interviews warned that Europe was "too tolerant of Muslims". The first book was The Rage and the Pride (initially a four-page article in Corriere della Sera, the major national newspaper in Italy). In this book, she calls for the destruction of what is now called Islam.

She wrote that the "sons of Allah breed like rats", and in a Wall Street Journal interview in 2005, she said that Europe was no longer Europe but "Eurabia". The Rage and the Pride and The Force of Reason both became bestsellers, the former selling over one million copies in Italy and 500,000 in the rest of Europe, and are considered part of the "Eurabia genre". Her third book in the same vein, Oriana Fallaci intervista sé stessa – L'Apocalisse ("The Apocalypse"), sold some two million copies globally, the three books together selling four million copies in Italy.

Her writings have been translated into 21 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Urdu, Greek, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Hebrew, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Persian, Slovenian, Danish and Bulgarian.

Personal life and death

Cimitero degli Allori, Oriana Fallaci

On 27 August 2005, Fallaci had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo. Although an atheist, Fallaci reportedly had great respect for the Pope and expressed admiration for his 2004 essay titled "If Europe Hates Itself". Despite being an atheist, in The Force of Reason, she claimed that she was also a "Christian atheist". Fallaci was a vocal critic of Islam, especially after the Iranian Revolution and the 9/11 attacks. When rumours of the construction of an Islamic centre in the city of Siena intensified, Fallaci told The New Yorker "If the Muslims build this Islamic center, she will blow it up with the help of her friends".

Fallaci died on 15 September 2006, in her native Florence, from cancer. She was buried in the Cimitero Evangelico degli Allori in the southern suburb of Florence, Galluzzo, alongside her family members and a stone memorial to Alexandros Panagoulis, her late companion.

Legacy

As of 2018, streets or squares have been renamed after her in Pisa, Arezzo, and Genoa. A public garden has also been dedicated to her in Sesto San Giovanni, an industrial town close to Milan.

In July 2019, the lower chamber of the Italian Parliament approved the creation of low-denomination treasury bills that could also be used as a de facto parallel currency to the euro. According to the plan's main proponent, the League's MP Claudio Borghi, the 20-euro bill should bear a picture of Fallaci.

An Italian television series was created about her life, titled Miss Fallaci (2024).

In 2024, a biographical novel, Oriana: A Novel of Oriana Fallaci, was published by author Anastasia Rubis based on the true story of Fallaci's career and personal life.

Awards

Fallaci twice received the St. Vincent Prize for journalism (1967, 1971). She also received the Bancarella Prize (1970) for Nothing, and So Be It; Viareggio Prize (1979), for Un uomo: Romanzo; and Prix Antibes, 1993, for Inshallah. She received a D.Litt. from Columbia College (Chicago).

On 30 November 2005, in New York City, Fallaci received the Annie Taylor Award for courage from the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. She was honoured for the "heroism and the values" that rendered her "a symbol of the fight against Islamic fascism and a knight of the freedom of humankind". The Annie Taylor Award is annually awarded to people who have demonstrated unusual courage in adverse conditions and great danger. David Horowitz, founder of the center, described Fallaci as "a General in the fight for freedom". On 8 December 2005, Fallaci was awarded the Ambrogino d'oro (Golden Ambrogino), the highest recognition of the city of Milan. She also received the Jan Karski Eagle Award.

Acting on a proposal by the Minister of Education Letizia Moratti, on 14 December 2005, the president of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, awarded Fallaci a gold medal for her cultural contributions (Benemerita della Cultura). The state of her health prevented her from attending the ceremony. She wrote in a speech: "This gold medal moves me because it gratifies my efforts as writer and journalist, my front line engagement to defend our culture, love for my country and for freedom. My current well-known health situation prevents me from travelling and receiving in person this gift that for me, a woman not used to medals and not too keen on trophies, has an intense ethical and moral significance."

On 12 February 2006, the president of Tuscany, Riccardo Nencini, awarded Fallaci a gold medal from the Council of Tuscany. Nencini reported that the prize was awarded as Fallaci was a beacon of Tuscan culture in the world. During the award ceremony, held in New York City, the writer talked about her attempt to create a caricature of Mohammed, following the polemic relating to similar caricatures that had appeared in French and Dutch newspapers. She declared: "I will draw Mohammed with his 9 wives, including the little baby he married when 70 years old, the 16 concubines, and a female camel wearing a Burqa. So far my pencil stopped at the image of the camel, but my next attempt will surely be better."

She received the America Award of the Italy–USA Foundation in 2010 (in memoriam).

Controversy

Fallaci received much public attention for her controversial writings and statements on Islam and European Muslims. She claimed that Muslims were colonizing Europe through immigration and high fertility rates, in line with the Eurabia concept.

Fallaci received criticism as well as support in Italy, where her books have sold over one million copies. At the first European Social Forum, which was held in Florence in November 2002, Fallaci invited the people of Florence to cease commercial operations and stay home. Furthermore, she compared the ESF to the Nazi occupation of Florence. Protest organizers declared, "We have done it for Oriana, because she hasn't spoken in public for the last 12 years and hasn't been laughing in the last 50".

In 2002, in Switzerland, the Islamic Center and the Somal Association of Geneva, SOS Racisme of Lausanne, along with a private citizen, sued Fallaci for the allegedly racist content of The Rage and the Pride. In November 2002, a Swiss judge issued an arrest warrant for violations of articles 261 and 261 bis of the Swiss criminal code and requested the Italian government to either prosecute or extradite her. Italian Minister of Justice Roberto Castelli rejected the request on the grounds that the Constitution of Italy protects freedom of speech.

In May 2005, Adel Smith, president of the Union of Italian Muslims, launched a lawsuit against Fallaci charging that "some of the things she said in her book The Force of Reason are offensive to Islam". Smith's attorney cited 18 phrases, most notably a reference to Islam as "a pool that never purifies". Consequently, an Italian judge ordered Fallaci to stand trial in Bergamo on charges of "defaming Islam". The preliminary trial began on 12 June, and on 25 June, Judge Beatrice Siccardi decided that Fallaci should indeed stand trial beginning on 18 December. Fallaci accused the judge of having disregarded the fact that Smith had called for her murder and defamed Christianity.

In France, some Arab-Muslim and anti-defamation organisations such as MRAP and Ligue des Droits de l'Homme launched lawsuits against Oriana Fallaci, charging that The Rage and the Pride and The Force of Reason (La Rage et l'Orgueil and La Force de la Raison in their French translations) were "offensive to Islam" and "racist". Her lawyer, Gilles William Goldnadel, president of the France-Israel Organization, was also Alexandre del Valle's lawyer during similar lawsuits against del Valle.

On 3 June 2005, Fallaci published on the front page of the Corriere della Sera a highly controversial article titled "Noi Cannibali e i figli di Medea" ("We cannibals and Medea's offspring"), urging women not to vote for a public referendum about artificial insemination that was held on 12 and 13 June 2006.

In her 2004 book Oriana Fallaci intervista sé stessa – L'Apocalisse, Fallaci expressed her opposition to same-sex marriage, arguing that it "subvert the biological concept of family" and calling it "a fashionable whim, a form of exhibitionism", and also against parenting by same-sex couples, declaring it a "distorted view of life". She also asserted the existence of a "gay lobby", through which "the homosexuals themselves are discriminating against others".

In the June 2006 issue of Reason, American libertarian writer Cathy Young wrote: "Oriana Fallaci's 2002 book The Rage and the Pride makes hardly any distinction between radical Islamic terrorists and Somali street vendors who supposedly urinate on the corners of Italy's great cities." Christopher Hitchens, writing in The Atlantic, called the book "a sort of primer in how not to write about Islam", describing it as "replete with an obsessive interest in excrement, disease, sexual mania, and insect-like reproduction, insofar as these apply to Muslims in general and to Muslim immigrants in Europe in particular".

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^ Ian Fisher, "Oriana Fallaci, Incisive Italian Journalist, Is Dead at 77," The New York Times, 16 September 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  2. Cristina De Stefano, The Interview that Became Henry Kissinger's "Most Disastrous Decision": How Oriana Fallaci Became the Most Feared Political Interviewer in the World, lithub.com. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  3. The Guardian, most sources indicate Fallaci was born on 29 June, but some sources indicate 24 July
  4. "Oriana Fallaci Official site". Oriana-fallaci.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  5. The New Yorker. F-R Publishing Corporation. 1975. p. 229. Out of that experience there came a literal xenophobia. ... Colonel George Papadopoulos, who became Prime Minister and later President under the junta, said his purpose was to recreate the Greece of the Christian Greeks — "Ellas Elllnon ...
  6. "Stylos: Agenzia di comunicazione giornalistica, letteraria, editoriale - Roma". Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  7. Arico, Santo L. (1998). Oriana Fallaci: The Woman and the Myth. Southern Illinois University. p. 26. ISBN 0-8093-2153-X.
  8. "The Agitator: Oriana Fallaci directs her fury toward Islam", Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 5 June 2006.
  9. Caroline Moorehead, "Speak ill of everyone", The Times Literary Supplement, 22–29 December 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  10. "Oriana Fallaci", The Times, 16 September 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  11. Sylvia Poggioli, "Fallaci Shed Light on the World's Leaders", National Public Radio. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  12. Fallaci, Oriana. Interview with History, p.40-41. Translated by John Shepley. 1976, Liveright Press. ISBN 0-87140-590-3
  13. Adam Bernstein (15 September 2006). "Reporter-Provocateur Oriana Fallaci". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  14. ^ Jerome, Carole (1 September 1980). "Back to the Veil". New Internationalist (91). Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  15. Oriana Fallaci: The Rolling Stone Interview, Rollingstone.com (June 17 1976).
  16. OF – La prego, Imam: devo chiederle ancora molte cose. Di questo "chador" a esempio, che mi hanno messo addosso per venire da lei e che lei impone alle donne, non mi riferisco soltanto a un indumento ma a ciò che esso rappresenta: cioè la segregazione in cui le donne sono state rigettate dopo la Rivoluzione. Il fatto stesso che non possano studiare all'università con gli uomini, ad esempio, né lavorare con gli uomini, né fare il bagno in mare o in piscina con gli uomini. Devono tuffarsi a parte con il "chador". A proposito, come si fa a nuotare con il "chador"? AK – Tutto questo non la riguarda. I nostri costumi non vi riguardano. Se la veste islamica non le piace, non è obbligata a portarla. Perché la veste islamica è per le donne giovani e perbene. OF – Molto gentile. E, visto che mi dice così, mi tolgo subito questo stupido cencio da medioevo. Ecco fatto. Oriana Fallaci, intervista a Khomeini, Corriere della Sera, 26 September 1979
  17. "Answers to the Italian Journalist Oriana Fallaci: August 21 and 23, 1980" Archived 29 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, People's Daily, people.cn. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  18. Oriana Fallaci, "Deng: Cleaning up Mao's mistakes" Archived 29 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, 31 August 1980, online clipping at digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  19. Michael Rank, "Oriana Fallaci", The Guardian, 19 September 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  20. Chamy, Israel (2007). Fighting Suicide Bombing: A Worldwide Campaign for Life. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-275-99336-8. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  21. Fisher, Ian (16 September 2006). "Oriana Fallaci, Incisive Italian Journalist, Is Dead at 77". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018.
  22. "The Rage of Oriana Fallaci". Observer. 27 January 2003.
  23. Bangstad, Sindre (July 2013). "Eurabia Comes to Norway". Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. 24 (3): 3. doi:10.1080/09596410.2013.783969. S2CID 145132618.
  24. "Obituary: Oriana Fallaci". The Guardian. 16 September 2006.
  25. "The Agitator". The New Yorker. 28 May 2006.
  26. Gianni Pasquarelli, I naturali sentieri della tranquillità, Rubbettino Editore, 2004, p. 132.
  27. "Phi Beta Cons on National Review Online". Archived from the original on 8 June 2008.
  28. Prophet of Decline, The Wall Street Journal, 23 June 2005.
  29. "Oriana Fallaci (1929–2006), Italian journalist, atheist and feminist, who was anti-Islam, also said she was a Christian atheist". Anti-Sharia. 13 November 2011. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  30. Mark Steyn, "She Said What She Thought", The Atlantic, December 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  31. Fisher, Ian (16 September 2006). "Oriana Fallaci, Incisive Italian Journalist, Is Dead at 77". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018.
  32. ^ Ghiglione, Giorgio. "The resurgence of Oriana Fallaci's anti-Islam message in Italy". www.aljazeera.com.
  33. "Per oriana Fallaci un ambrogino d' oro rovente", La Repubblica, 18 November 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  34. "Questa medaglia d'oro mi commuove perché gratifica la mia fatica di scrittore e di giornalista, il mio impegno a difesa della nostra cultura, il mio amore per il mio Paese e per la Libertà. Le attuali e ormai note ragioni di salute mi impediscono di viaggiare e ritirare direttamente un omaggio che per me, donna poco abituata alle medaglie e poco incline ai trofei, ha un intenso significato etico e morale".
  35. "America Award" Italy–USA Foundation
  36. "How Oriana Fallaci's Writings on Islamism Are Remembered—and Reviled". The Atlantic. 15 December 2017.
  37. Italy has a racist culture, says French editor, The Guardian, 8 August 2004.
  38. Oriana in Exile Archived 11 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine, The American Spectator, 18 July 2005.
  39. Sabina Guzzanti became Fallaci, La Repubblica, 8 November 2002.
  40. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Switzerland 2002, United States Department of State, 31 March 2003
  41. Swiss Muslims File Suit Over "Racist" Fallaci Book, from The Milli Gazette, 1 July 2002.
  42. "The force of Reason'". Padania (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  43. "Oriana Fallaci Trial Begins in Italy". Never yet melted. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  44. ^ "French Court Throws Out Lawsuit on Anti-Islam Book". Icare. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  45. Fallaci, the trial continues in December, L'Eco di Bergamo, 26 June 2006.
  46. "Il nemico che trattiamo da amico". Corriere della Sera. 15 September 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  47. Caldwell, Christopher (1 October 2002). "The Fallaci Affair". Commentary Magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  48. "We cannibals and Medea's offspring", Oriana Fallaci, June 2005. Archived 23 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  49. Fallaci, Oriana (2004). Oriana Fallaci intervista sé stessa – L'Apocalisse. Milan: Rizzoli. p. 262.
  50. Holy Writ, The Atlantic, June 2006.
  51. Nothing and so be it: A personal search for meaning in war, cia.gov. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  52. Review: Nothing, And So Be It: A Personal Search for Meaning in War, kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  53. ^ Douglas Murray, "Brava: The fearless life of Oriana Fallaci" Archived 28 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Standpoint, 20 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2020.

Further reading

Obituaries

Articles by Fallaci

Articles about Fallaci

Books about Fallaci

External links

Oriana Fallaci
Journalism and monographs
Novels
Works about
Recipients of the Bancarella Prize
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