Giovanni Luigi "Gianni" Brera (8 September 1919 – 19 December 1992) was an Italian

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. This is a description by himself: "My real name is Giovanni Luigi Brera. I was born on 8 September 1919 in San Zenone Po in the province of Pavia, and grew up like a wild man among woods, river banks and still waters. ..I am a Padan from the banks and flood plains, the bush and the sandbanks. I soon realized I was a legitimate son of the Po".

Biography

Brera was born in

San Zenone al Po San Zenone al Po is a ''comune'' in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean ...

, near

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, the son of Carlo, a tailor, and Marietta Ghisoni. Among his ancestors was a Hungarian great-grandmother who married a Lombard sergeant of the

Imperial Austrian Army The Imperial-Royal or Imperial Austrian Army (german: Kaiserlich-königliche Armee, abbreviation "K.K. Armee") was strictly speaking, the armed force of the Holy Roman Empire under its last monarch, the Habsburg Emperor Francis II, although in re ...

. He obtained his degree in

political sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Pavia University The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

in 1943, while on leave from his post as

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

of the

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

division "Folgore". In late spring 1944 he joined the

Italian Resistance The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

movement and fought in the

Ossola The Ossola (, also Valle Ossola or Val d’Ossola) is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola. Et ...

Valley. He took pride in having lived through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

without ever shooting another human being. In 1943, he married Rina Gramegna (a teacher, 1920–2000) and had four sons: Franco (1944–1944), Carlo (a painter, 1946–1994), Paolo (an economist, journalist, multi-lingual translator, and novelist, 1949–2019), Franco (a musician, 1951-). When he was discharged in 1945, he started working for ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

'' (Italy's first sports daily), eventually becoming

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

in 1949, the youngest-ever editor-in-chief of a national newspaper in Italy. Brera wrote for ''

'', ''Il Guerin Sportivo'', '' Il Giorno'', ''

Il Giornale ''il Giornale'' ( en, The Newspaper) is an Italian language daily newspaper published in Milan, Italy. History and profile The newspaper was founded in 1974 by the journalist Indro Montanelli, together with the colleagues Enzo Bettiza, Ferenc ...

'', ''

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 Arnoldo ...

'' and several other publications. His articles were translated into several European languages. He often referred to himself as "Gioannbrerafucarlo" (a reference to Italy's long-foregone system of including the father's name in a citizen's complete name). He also wrote a number of books (handbooks, essays and fictional works), a theatre play, and a couple of radio plays. Brera died halfway between

Codogno Codogno (; Lodigiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of 15,868 inhabitants in the province of Lodi, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is the main center of the plain known as Basso Lodigiano, which has about 90,000 inhabitants. It received the honorary tit ...

and

Casalpusterlengo Casalpusterlengo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southeast of Lodi. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on October 3 ...

, in 1992, from injuries suffered in a car accident: a car on the other side of the road crashed into his car, causing his death and of two other passengers.

Legacy

Brera is considered one of the most influential Italian sports journalists of the 20th century. In 2003, the monumental Arena Civica (

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

), built in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in the early 19th century, was renamed Arena Gianni Brera. Brera is widely credited for innovating

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...

, notably by creating a whole new terms for

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, some of which have been adopted by other countries. The word '' libero'' (sweeper) for the third defender was coined by Brera. Famous nicknames he invented for Italian players include ''Abatino'' ("Little Abbot") for

Gianni Rivera Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder. Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...

and ''Rombo di tuono'' ("Rolling Thunder") for

Gigi Riva Luigi "Gigi" Riva (; born 7 November 1944) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Riva enjoye ...

. He also nicknamed

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

''Il Cavaliere'' ("The Knight") after the businessman was awarded the

Order of Merit for Labour The Order of Merit for Labour ( it, Ordine al Merito del Lavoro) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 1923 by King Vittorio Emanuele III. It is awarded to those "who have been singularly meritorious" in agriculture, industry and ...

. Furthermore, he coined the monikers "Il Vecchio Balordo" (''The Old Fool'') and "La Beneamata" (The Well-Cherished One) for

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

football clubs, respectively. Living and working in Milan, Brera was a supporter of Internazionale, but he claimed to be a fan of Genoa in order to prevent him from being dragged into the rivalry between Inter,

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

and

Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

and to be able to write about those teams without alienating the readerships from their sides. Brera's self-declared fondness for Genoa testified his love for the "heroic age" of Italian football (Genoa was Italy's first club and dominated the football championships until the early 1920s); moreover, after Brera's death the original foundation charter of the ''Genoa Cricket and Football Club'' was found among his papers, and his family donated it to a Genoese museum. Apart from the imaginative lexicon, Brera was noteworthy for his rich style and liberal use of foreign or regional phrases. He spoke fluent French and Spanish, a little German and Latin, and some English. In May 2019, Brera was inducted into the

Italian Football Hall of Fame The Italian Football Hall of Fame ( it, Hall of Fame del calcio italiano) is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football. It is housed at the '' Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Ital ...

for the 2018 edition, under the category ''Special Awards''.

Bibliography

*'' Atletica leggera. Scienza e poesia dell'orgoglio fisico''. Milan, Sperling & Kupfer, 1949. *'' Il sesso degli Ercoli''. Milan, Rognoni, 1959. * ''Io, Coppi''. Milan, Vitagliano, 1960. * Addio bicicletta. Milan, Longanesi, 1964. Other editions: Milan, Rizzoli, 1980; Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1997. * Atletica leggera. Culto dell'uomo (with G. Calvesi). Milan, Longanesi, 1964. *'' I campioni vi insegnano il calcio'', Milan, Longanesi, 1965; also: Milan, Booktime, 2008. *'' Coppa del mondo 1966. I protagonisti e la loro storia''. Milan, Mondadori, 1966. * ''Il corpo della ragassa''. Milan, Longanesi, 1969. Also: Treviso, Editing, 2006. *'' Il mestiere del calciatore''. Milan, Mondadori, 1972; also: Milan, Booktime, 2008. * ''La pacciada. Mangiarebere in pianura padana ''(with G. Veronelli). Milan, Mondadori, 1973. *'' Po'', Milano, Dalmine. 1973. * ''Il calcio azzurro ai mondiali''. Milan, Campironi, 1974. * ''Incontri e invettive''. Milan, Longanesi, 1974. * ''Introduzione alla vita saggia''. Milan, Sigurtà Farmaceutici, 1974. *'
Storia critica del calcio italiano
'. Milan, Bompiani, 1975. * ''L'Arcimatto''. Milan, Longanesi, 1977. * ''Naso bugiardo''. Milan, Rizzoli, 1977. Published again with the original title La ballata del pugile suonato. Milan, Booktime, 2008. * ''Forza azzurri''. Milan, Mondadori, 1978. * ''63 partite da salvare''. Milan, Mondadori, 1978. * ''Suggerimenti di buon vivere dettati da Francesco Sforza pel figliolo Galeazzo Maria''. A Publication of the Municipality of Milan, 1979. * ''Una provincia a forma di grappolo d'uva ''(with Paolo Brera). Milan, Istituto Editoriale Regioni Italiane, 1979. * ''Coppi e il diavolo''. Milan, Rizzoli, 1981. Also: Milan, Baldini&Castoldi (), 1996 * ''Gente di risaia''. Aosta, Musumeci, 1981. * ''Lombardia, amore mio''. Lodi, Lodigraf, 1982. *'' L'arciBrera''. Como, Edizioni "Libri" della rivista "Como", 1990. * ''La leggenda dei mondiali''. Milan, Pindaro, 1990. *'' Il mio vescovo e le animalesse''. Milano, Bompiani, 1984. Also: Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1993. * ''La strada dei vini in Lombardia'' (with G. Pifferi and E. Tettamanzi). Como, Pifferi, 1986. * ''Genoa, amore mio''. Milan, Ponte alle Grazie, 1992. *'' Storie dei Lombardi''. Milan, BookTime, 2011. *'' L'Arcimatto 1960–1966''. Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1993. *'' La bocca del leone (l'Arcimatto II 1967–1973)''. Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1995. *'' La leggenda dei mondiali e il mestiere del calciatore''. Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1994. *'' Il principe della zolla ''(a cura di Gianni Mura). Milan, Il Saggiatore, 1994. * ''L'Anticavallo. Sulle strade del Tour e del Giro''. Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1997. * ''Caro vecchio balordo. La storia del Genoa dal 1893 a oggi'' (Fabrizio Calzia, editor). Genoa, De Ferrari, 2005. * ''Un lombardo nel pallone''. Milan, Excogita 2007. * ''Il più bel gioco del mondo'', Milan. BUR (Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli), 2007. * ''L'abatino Berruti''. Milan, BookTime, 2009. * ''Suggerimenti di Francesco Sforza al figlio Gian Galeazzo''. Milan, BookTime, 2009. * ''Brambilla e la Squaw'', with a note by

Paolo Brera Paolo Alberto Brera (16 September 1949 – 21 February 2019) was an Italian economist, academic, journalist, multilingual translator and novelist. Biography Brera was born in Milan, the third son of journalist and writer Gianni Brera and teac ...

. Milan, Frassinelli, 2012. * ''Introduzione alla vita saggia'', prefaced by

Carlo Verdone Carlo Gregorio Verdone (born 17 November 1950) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. Verdone is best known for his comedic roles in Italian classics, which he also wrote and directed. His career was jumpstarted by his first thre ...

, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014.

Sources

* ''Gioanfucarlo ''(biography), by Paolo Brera and Claudio Rinaldi, Milan, Boroli, 2004 * ''Com'era bello con Gianni Brera'', by Andrea Maietti, Arezzo, Limina, 2002
''Gianni Brera'', ''Treccani Encyclopedia ''article, by Claudio Rinaldi

References

External links

*http://www.booktime.it/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Brera, Gianni 1919 births 1992 deaths Italian military personnel of World War II Paratroopers Italian resistance movement members People from the Province of Pavia Italian sports journalists Italian novelists Italian male novelists Italian people of Hungarian descent 20th-century Italian writers 20th-century Italian male writers Road incident deaths in Italy Italian newspaper editors Italian male journalists La Repubblica people Italian magazine editors