Andrea Lavezzolo (12 December 1905 – 16 November 1981) was an Italian novelist and short story writer who created and wrote many prominent

Italian comics Italian comics, also known as ''fumetto'' , plural form ''fumetti'' , are comics that originate in Italy. The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages. The term ''fumetto'' (literally ''little puff of smoke'') refers t ...

of the 1940s and 1950s.

Life and career

Lavezzolo was born in Paris to Italian parents. The family returned to Italy when he was eight years old and settled in

Chiavari Chiavari (; lij, Ciävai ) is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in Italy. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is situated near the river Entella. History Pre-Roman and Roman Era A pre-Roman necropolis, which dates ...

near Genoa. Having left school early to help support his family, he worked in a variety of jobs in his youth, including as an employee of an insurance company, but at the same time began writing short stories and poems for various Italian magazines. He also wrote short novels such ''L'idolo cinese'' published by

Sonzogno Edoardo Sonzogno (21 April 1836 – 14 March 1920) was an Italian publisher. A native of Milan, Sonzogno was the son of a businessman who owned a printing plant and bookstore. When he inherited the business upon his father's death he set ab ...

in 1936, and children's books published by Carroccio such as ''Il mantello magico'' in 1934 and ''Le tre Pepite'' in 1939. Lavezzolo started writing for the weekly comics magazine ''Albogiornale Juventus'' with "La città delle tenebre" in 1939 and in the early 1940s worked on the scenarios and text for the comic book series '' Dick Fulmine''. He went on to create a series of comic books and characters which included ''

Gim Toro ''Gim Toro'' is an Italian comic book series created by Andrea Lavezzolo and Edgardo Dell'Acqua. It was in syndication from 1946 until 1951. Background Published in 1946 in an eponymous comic book series, the comics had an immediate success;F ...

'' in 1946 (his first major success), ''

Tony Falco ''Tony Falco'' was an Italian comic book series created and written by Andrea Lavezzolo with illustrations by Andrea Bresciani. It was published weekly in 48 issues from 1948 to 1949. Background Tony Falco was the second major comic character ...

'' in 1948, ''

Geky Dor ''Geky Dor'' was an Italian comic book series created and written by Andrea Lavezzolo with illustrations by Andrea Bresciani. It was published weekly in 20 issues from 1949 to 1950. Background Inspired by a newspaper story, the series recou ...

'' in 1949, '' Kinowa'' in 1950 and ''

Il Piccolo Ranger ''Il Piccolo Ranger'' (i.e. "The Little Ranger") is an Italian comic book series centered on Kit Teller, a character created in 1958 by writer Andrea Lavezzolo in tandem with illustrator Francesco Gamba and later developed by numerous authors; ...

'' in 1958.Fossati, Franco (1992)
"Lavezzolo, Andrea"
p. 158. ''Dizionario Illustrato del Fumetto''. Mondadori. Marchetti, Ada Gigli (ed.) (2007)
''Il Giorno: cinquant'anni di un quotidiano anticonformista''
p. 167. FrancoAngeli. In the mid-1950s Lavezzolo began working for the newspaper '' Il Giorno'' on the recommendation of

Cino Del Duca Cino Del Duca (25 July 1899 – 24 May 1967) was an Italian-born businessman film producer and philanthropist who moved to France in 1923 where he made a fortune in the French publishing business. Biography Cino Del Duca Born in Montedinove in ...

having previously worked on Del Duca's magazines '' Il Monello'' and ''

Intrepido ''Intrepido'' (Italian for "Intrepid"), also referred to as ''L'Intrepido'', was a weekly comic magazine published by Casa Editrice Moderna between 1935 and 1998. History and profile The first issue was published on 23 February 1935. It was the ...

'', both of which were aimed at children and teenagers. In 1957 he became the editor of the paper's weekly young people's supplement ''

Il Giorno dei Ragazzi ''Il Giorno dei Ragazzi'' was a weekly comic supplement magazine of the Italian newspaper '' Il Giorno'', published between 1957 and 1968. History and profile The comic magazine debuted on 28 March 1957. It was originally intended as the Italian ...

'' and remained in that post until 1966. In his later years he wrote essays and articles on Italian comics for the magazines '' Sergeant Kirk'' and ''Il Fumetto'' and in 1975 was made Honorary President of the Associazione Nazionale Amici del Fumetto. Lavezzolo died in Chiavari in 1981 at the age of 75. His obituary in ''

Il Secolo XIX ''Il Secolo XIX'' ( ) is an Italian newspaper published in Genoa, Italy, founded in March 1886, subsequently acquired by Ferdinando Maria Perrone in 1897 from Ansaldo. It is one of the first Italian newspapers to be printed in colour. On 16 J ...

'' was written by Lavezzolo himself when he was already gravely ill. It began:

Due to unavoidable commitments, but without much regret, the writer Andrea Lavezzolo says goodbye to family, relatives, friends and readers.

A street in Rome is named in his honour—Via Andrea Lavezzolo in the Torrino Mezzocammino quarter. One of the city's newest areas (building began in 2005), Torrino Mezzocammino has streets, piazzas and even schools named for the characters, writers, and artists of Italian comics.Cappelli, Rory (11 April 2008
"Benvenuti in via Hugo Pratt un quartiere che è un fumetto"
''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnol ...

''. Retrieved 10 September 2016 .

Life and career

Notes

References

Further reading