On 4 January 1941 Joyce wrote a postcard to his brother Stanislaus.
Joyce had heard that his brother was in trouble with the Fascist government in Italy and had been obliged to move to Florence. On 4 January 1941 he sent his brother a postcard giving the names and addresses of people Joyce thought might be able to help him.
The postcard, written in Italian, was addressed ‘Caro fratello’ (Dear brother) and Joyce offered the names as people Stanislaus should try to get help from. Listed are Alessandro Francini Bruni, one of the directors of the Berlitz School in Trieste who had been well-known to the Joyces before the First World War; Ezra Pound, who was supportive of the Italian Fascist government; Carlo Linati, the critic, who was among the signatories of the Manifesto of Anti-Fascist Intellectuals; Curzio Malaparte, the writer and diplomat who, however, had been imprisoned several times by the Fascists; and Ettore Settani who had produced the Italian translation of Anna Livia Plurabelle with Nino Frank, published in Malaperte’s magazine Prospettive.
This postcard to his brother was Joyce’s last written communication.
Sources & Further Reading:
Joyce, James: Letters of James Joyce, vol. III edited by Richard Ellmann, London: Faber & Faber, 1966.