NICCOLÒ TUCCI was born in Lugano, Switzerland in 1908, and educated in law and political science in Florence, Italy. He emigrated to the United States in the thirties for political reasons. He is the author of Before My Time (1962), Unfinished Funeral (1964) and The Sun and the Moon (1977). He is also the author of numerous novels, plays and articles in Italian, for which he has won many honors, including the Viareggio Prize (1956) and the Bagutta Prize (1968).