Saba's Christian father, 29-year-old Ugo Edoardo Poli, converted to Judaism in order to marry 37-year-old Felicita Rachele Cohen in July 1882.

As a boy and a young man he was of a shy and solitary character, with just a few friends, among whom were his cousin Giorgio Fano and the other great Triestine poet Virgilio Giotti.

In January 1903 Saba travelled to Pisa to study archaeology, German and Latin, but began to complain of a nervous disorder and, in June, returned to Trieste.

[4] In the spring of 1911, while Saba was away in Florence meeting people associated with the influential magazine La Voce, and initiating a collaboration with Mario Novaro, Lina had an affair with a painter.

The couple separated, but were together again by May 1912 when the family moved to Bologna, where public readings of his poetry were poorly received and Saba was beset by depressed lows and creative highs.

In early 1915 he began writing for Benito Mussolini's Il Popolo d'Italia newspaper, but in June was drafted into the army, where he saw no active service and was hospitalised due to depression.

The business produced enough income to support the family, and Saba soon became enthusiastic about buying and selling rare old books and enjoyed the extensive travel involved.

[1] (p. xxi) In 1939 Saba sought exemption from the newly proclaimed anti-Jewish laws, but was unwilling to be baptised into the Catholic faith, so the following year he sold the bookshop to his long-time assistant and friend, Carlo Cerne.

"Gli Ebrei" (The Jews) which is part of his 1956 "Ricordi-Racconti 1910–1947" ("Records and Stories 1910–1947") describes the life of the Trieste Jewish Community of his childhood.