The Second Disappearance of Majorana

Majorana? A brillian physicist, whose genius was recognized by all his colleagues, disappeared mysteriously in 1938 between Naples and Palermo. This disappearance was the subject of much speculation. Jordi Bonells leads us to Argentina to unravel the enigma and to try to understand the hidden motivations of the scientist. But what are those of the narrator who went in search of the disappeared? What at first seems like an investigation gradually transforms into an enigmatic and spellbinding story. Isn’t Majorana a pretext for a more general reflection on the desire to disappear?

Catalan by birth, in his teens Jordi Bonells became a workman for a bookbinder and continued his studies at night school. In 1970 he immigrated to France and enrolled in a sociology course in Paris while working as a night watchman. He changed his degree course to study for an ‘agrégation’ in Spanish. Over a period of two years, he divided his time between France and Argentina. Today, he lives in Marseille.

Jordi Bonells teaches contemporary Spanish literature and culture at the University of Toulon and is the author of several essays, including Le Roman espagnol après 1939 (Nathan, 1998), and novels and poems published in Spain. He is also the author of L’Espagne et les Espagnols and Dieu n’est pas sur la photo, published by Liana Levi.