Il genio introvabile. Note sulle origini del mito di Majorana (1938-75)

The Elusive Genius. Notes on the Origins of Majorana’s Myth (1938-75)

The article focuses on the memory of the physicist Ettore Majorana in Italy in the years between his mysterious vanishing (1938) and the publication of Leonardo Sciascia’s famous book on The disappearance of Majorana (1975). During that phase, especially from the late 1950s onwards, the young scientist was often remembered by journalists, relatives, scholars and film directors, who helped shape his myth in the eyes of their fellow countrymen. They – not Sciascia – were the first to claim that Majorana did not committed suicide but decided to disappear and seek refuge in a convent after foreseeing the tragedy of Hiroshima.

Keywords: Ettore Majorana; Physics; Atomic bomb; Illustrated magazines