Giovanni Francesco "Gianni" Rodari (; 23 October 1920 – 14 April 1980) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

writer and journalist, most famous for his works of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, notably '' Il romanzo di Cipollino''. For his lasting contribution as a children's author he received the biennial

Hans Christian Andersen Medal The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

in 1970. He is considered as Italy's most important 20th-century children's author and his books have been translated into many languages, though few have been published in English.

Biography

Rodari was born in

Omegna Omegna (, , ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Verbania at the northernmost point of Lago d’Orta and traversed by the ...

, a small town on

Lake Orta Lake Orta (Italian: ''Lago d’Orta'') is a lake in northern Italy, west of Lake Maggiore. It has been so named since the 16th century, but was previously called Lago di San Giulio, after Saint Julius (4th century), the patron saint of the regi ...

in the

province of Novara Novara (It. ''Provincia di Novara'') is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Novara. In 1992, the new Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola was created through the fusion of three geographical areas which had prev ...

in northern Italy. His father, a baker, died when Rodari was only eight. Rodari and his two brothers, Cesare and Mario (who was younger than him), were raised by his mother in her native village, in the

province of Varese The province of Varese ( it, provincia di Varese) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese (population of 80,857 inhabitants), but its largest city is Busto Arsizio. The head ...

. After three years at the seminary in

Seveso Seveso (; lmo, label= Lombard, Séves ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Monza and Brianza, in the Region of Lombardy. The economy of the town has traditionally been based on the furniture industry. Its name comes from the river o ...

, Rodari received his teacher's diploma at the age of seventeen and began to teach elementary classes in rural schools of the Varese district. He had interest in music (three years of

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

lessons) and literature (discovered the works of

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, Prose poetry, prose poet, cultural critic, Philology, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philo ...

Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

and

Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...

which sharpened his critical sense). In 1939, for a short time, Rodari attended the

Catholic University of Milan The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. During

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 ...

, Rodari had a deferment from the army due to his ill health. Due to his precarious financial situation, he applied for work at the

Casa del Fascio A ''casa del Fascio'', ''casa Littoria'', or ''casa del Littorio'' () was a building housing the local branch of the National Fascist Party and later the Republican Fascist Party under the regime of Italian Fascism, in Italy and its colonies. ...

and was forced to join the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

. Traumatized by the loss of his two best friends and his favorite brother Cesare's incarceration in a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

, Rodari joined the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

in 1944 and participated in the

Italian resistance movement 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 ...

. In 1948, as a journalist for the Communist periodical ''

L'Unità ''l'Unità'' (, lit. 'the Unity') was an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of the ...

'', he began writing books for children. In 1950, the Party installed him as editor of the new weekly children's magazine ''

Il Pioniere ''Il Pioniere'' ( Italian: ''The Pioneer'') was a weekly children's comic magazine which existed between 1950 and 1970. It was headquartered in Rome, Italy. The magazine was close to the Italian Communist Party although it did not overtly contain ...

'' in Rome. In 1951, Rodari published his first books, ''Il Libro delle Filastrocche'' and ''Il Romanzo di Cipollino''. In 1952, he traveled for the first time to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, which he frequented thereafter. In 1953, he married Maria Teresa Feretti, who four years later gave birth to their daughter, Paola. In 1957, Rodari passed the exam to become a professional journalist. Rodari spent the years 1966–1969 working intensively on collaborative projects with children. In 1970 he received the

for children's literature, which gained him a wide international reputation as the best modern children's writer in Italian. The biennial award by the

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. His works have been translated into numerous languages. In 1979, after another trip to the Soviet Union, his health, never very robust, declined and his productivity diminished. He died in Rome, following a surgical operation, in April 1980.

Works

He is perhaps best known for developing the story of

Cipollino Cipollino (), or Little Onion as translated from the original, is a fictional character from Gianni Rodari's eponymous ''Tale of Cipollino'' ( it, Il romanzo di Cipollino), also known under its 1957 renamed title ''Adventures of Cipollino'' ( it, ...

. The story of Cipollino was popular enough to have a ballet staged in the Soviet Union in 1973, composed by

Karen Khachaturian Karen Surenovich Khachaturian (russian: Карэн Суренович Хачатурян, hy, Կարեն Խաչատրյան) (Moscow, 19 September 1920 – Moscow, 19 July 2011) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Armenian ethnicity and the neph ...

and choreographed by Genrik Alexandrovich Maiorov. Cipollino, or Little Onion, fights the unjust treatment of his fellow vegetable townfolk by the fruit royalty (Prince Lemon and the overly proud Tomato) in the garden kingdom. The main theme is the "struggle of the underclass and the powerful, good versus evil" and the importance of friendship in the face of difficulties. Rodari's works have continued to be published and re-illustrated by other authors after his death, including

Nicoletta Costa Nicoletta Costa (; born 1953) is an Italian writer, illustrator and cartoonist, famous for her works of children's literature. She is the creator of characters Olga the Cloud and Julian Rabbit. Costa is renowned for her distinctive drawing style, ...

. * ''Il libro delle filastrocche'' (“The Book of Children's Poems”, 1950) * ''Il romanzo di

'' (“The Adventures of Cipollino, the Little Onion”, 1951) * ''Gelsomino nel paese dei bugiardi'' (“Gelsomino in the Country of Liars”, 1958) * ''Filastrocche in cielo e in terra'' (“Nursery Rhymes in the Sky and on Earth”, 1960) * ''Favole al telefono'' (“Telephone Tales”, 1962) * ''Gip nel televisore'' (“Gip in the Television”, 1962) * ''La freccia azzurra'' (“The Blue Arrow”, 1964) * ''La torta in cielo'' (“The Cake in the Sky”, 1966) * ''La grammatica della fantasia'' (“The Grammar of Fantasy”, 1974) * ''C'era due volte il barone Lamberto'' ovvero ''I misteri dell'isola di San Giulio'' (''Twice Upon a Time there was a Baron called Lamberto'' or ''The Mysteries of the Isle of San Giulio'', 1978, ) * ''Novelle fatte a macchina'' (“Stories written on a typewriter”) * ''Atalanta'' * ''Piccoli Vagabondi''

Tribute

On 23 October 2020

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celebrated his 100th birthday with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

References

External links

*
A Rodari short story, ''Polenta Fritta'', translated into English

Rodari-Website (Italian)

a Russian Chippolino cartoonanswers.com
* ''

The Cafe Irreal ''The Cafe Irreal'' is an Internet journal dedicated to the publication and propagation of irrealist literature. History and profile Online since 1998, it has published a number of notable authors whose work sometimes fits into this non-realist g ...

''
"Trolley Number 75" by Gianni Rodari (English translation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodari, Gianni 1920 births 1980 deaths Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing winners Italian children's writers Italian science fiction writers Italian male journalists Italian anti-fascists Italian resistance movement members Italian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian politicians Italian Marxist journalists Italian Marxist writers People from Omegna 20th-century Italian novelists Italian male novelists

Biography

Works

Tribute

See also

References

Further reading

External links