At the time of his death in 1936, Luigi Pirandello had left instructions for his funeral requesting that "When I am dead, do not clothe me. Wrap me naked in a sheet. No flowers on the bed and no lighted candle. A pauper's cart. Naked. And let no one accompany me, neither relatives nor friends. The cart, the horse, the coachmen, e basta. Burn me." But the church did not condone cremation, nor did the Fascist party intend to provide one of its most famous members with such an unorthodox funeral. Thus, quite the opposite of what he had requested, Pirandello was given a lavish state funeral.