Roberto Calasso: Erudite Italian author who wrote of human consciousness

Robert Calasso, who has died aged 80, was a writer who brought his works on the evolution of human consciousness to a worldwide audience through his prestigious Italian publishing house, Adelphi Edizioni.

Unravelling the questions in his enquiring mind about the thread that links cultures, eras and civilisations, his orbit encompassed everything from Indian mythology to assessments of historical figures such as 20th-century literary giant Franz Kafka.