Ercole Luigi Morselli

Ercole Luigi Morselli (Pesaro, 19 February 1882 – Rome, 16 March 1921) was an Italian writer and dramatist.

After his return to Italy, Morselli started his literary career, which was initially quite difficult, such that his mother had to support him for long time.

His most successful works are Orione, a tragicomedy where the main character is a demigod with very unspiritual desires, and Glauco, which describes the story of a fisher who becomes god of the sea but discovers that power does not necessarily bring joy.

With his short story La donna ragno (The spider woman, 1915), Morselli was in addition one of the precursors of the science fiction in Italy.

His play Belfagor was used by Claudio Guastalla as subject for the libretto of the opera with the same title (1926) of Ottorino Respighi.