Guglielmo Guastaveglia (6 April 1889 – 1984), also known as Guasta, Guglielmo Guasta and Guasta Veglia, was an Italian illustrator, comics artist and writer. He was the first cartoonist to produce autoctone

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

comic strips in Italy.

Life and career

Born in Rome, Guastaveglia made his professional debut in 1908, in the magazine '' Il Travaso delle idee'', and collaborated with other publications including

Vamba Luigi Bertelli (19 March 1860 - 27 November 1920), best known as Vamba, was an Italian writer, illustrator and journalist. Born in Florence, having completed his studies Bertelli became a railway employer, working first in Rimini and later in F ...

's ''Corriere della Domenica''. In 1921 he was named editor of ''Il Travaso'', which under his direction exceeded a sales run of 300,000 copies, but in 1925 he was dismissed because of his antifascism. He then started collaborating, under pseudonyms, with other publications, including '' Corriere dei Piccoli'' and ''

Il Giornalino della Domenica ''Il giornalino della Domenica'' was ‘the prototype of the modern periodical for children in Italy’.Katia Pizzi (paper presented at the 15th Biennial Congress of the International Research Society for Children's Literature, 2001). The magazin ...

''. In 1927 he founded with his wife Olga and the poet

Trilussa Trilussa, anagrammatic pseudonym of Carlo Alberto Camillo Mariano SalustriSome biographers as Claudio Rendina report ''Marianum'' as his fourth name (Rendina, p.19) (Rome, 26 October 1871 – 21 December 1950), was an Italian poet, writer and j ...

a puppet theatre, "Baracca delle Favole" ('Fairytale Hut'). In 1931, Guastaveglia began collaborating with ''Il Popolo di Roma'', a newspaper founded in 1925 to replace the Roman edition of '' Il Popolo d'Italia'', and which under the direction of Paolo De Cristofaro employed many anti-fascist intellectuals, including Adriano Tilgher,

Mario Missiroli Mario Missiroli (13 March 1934 – 19 May 2014) was an Italian stage, television and film director. Born in Bergamo, at a young age Missiroli moved to Milan with his family. Later. he graduated in direction from the Accademia d'Arte Dramma ...

Corrado Alvaro Corrado Alvaro (15 April 1895 – 11 June 1956) was an Italian journalist and writer of novels, short stories, screenplays and plays. He often used the ''verismo'' style to describe the hopeless poverty in his native Calabria. His first succe ...

and . In the newspaper he wrote and illustrated a series of comic strips featuring

and

Minnie Mouse Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a bow, polka-dotted dress, white bloomers, and low-heeled shoes occasionally w ...

; in his autoctone and unauthorized comic universe, Mickey Mouse was more similar to a

Commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

character than to his American counterpart, and his stories featured Felix the Cat and

Kat Nipp The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving The Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto (Disney), Pluto, Goofy, and ...

as main antagonists. In 1932, he was employed by ''

Marc'Aurelio ''Marc'Aurelio'' was an Italian satirical magazine, published between 1931 and 1958, and briefly resurrected in 1973. History and profile The weekly magazine was founded in Rome by Oberdan Catone and Vito De Bellis in 1931. It was the first satir ...

''. In 1944, he founded the "Funny Faces Shop" with his ''Marc'Aurelio'' colleagues

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

and Carlo Ludovico Bompiani. In 1946, Guastaveglia was reinstated as editor of ''Il Travaso delle Idee'', which he directed until 1962. He was also active as a caricaturist, a painter, a children book author and an essayist, notably writing an encyclopaedia of humour ("''Enciclopedia dell'Umorismo''") in four volumes. In 1972, he played

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

in Fellini's ''

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

''.

References

External links

Guglielmo Guastaveglia
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guastaveglia, Guglielmo Italian illustrators Italian comics artists Italian comics writers 1889 births 1984 deaths People from Rome