Sabbath a synonym of midnight-to-midnight "Saturday" (literally, Saturn's day in at least a dozen languages): this is a simplification of the use of "Sabbath" in other religious contexts, where the two do not coincide. (Using midnight instead of sundown as delimiter dates back to the Roman Empire.) In over thirty other languages, the common name for this day in the seven-day week is a cognate of "Sabbath". "Sabbatini", originally "Sabbadini", often "Sabatini", etc., is a very frequent Italian name form ("Sabbatos" is the Greek form), indicating a family whose ancestor was born on Saturday, Italian "sabato"; "Domenico" indicated birth on Sunday.
Ernesto Sabato being rejected by several Buenos Aires' editors, Sabato published in "Sur" his first novel, "El túnel", a psychological novel narrated in first-person. Framed in existentialism, it was met with enthusiastic reviews by Albert Camus, who had the book translated by Gallimard into French. It has been further translated to more than 10 languages. Others to enjoy the book included Thomas Mann. France's literary industry named his book "Abaddon el Exterminador" ("The Angel of Darkness") as 1976's best foreign book. In 1998 his wife died. In 1999 he acquired the Italian citizenship, in addition to his original Argentine one. Sabato died