Giovannino Guareschi Italian writer, journalist, cartoonist and humorist Date of Birth: 01.05.1908 Country: Italy

Biography of Giovannino Guareschi

Giovannino Guareschi was an Italian writer, journalist, cartoonist, and humorist, best known for his character Don Camillo, a parish priest who frequently converses with Jesus Christ in the altar. He is one of the most successful Italian writers, with his works being translated into many foreign languages, including Russian, and selling over 20 million copies worldwide.

Giovannino Guareschi was born on May 1, 1908, in Fontanelle, a district of Roccabianca, a small municipality in the province of Parma, located in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. He came from a middle-class family, but in 1926, his father, a businessman, went bankrupt, and Giovannino lost the opportunity to continue his education at the University of Parma. His mother worked as a teacher in an elementary school.

After his father's bankruptcy, Giovannino struggled to make ends meet with odd jobs until he started writing for a local newspaper. In 1929, he became a staff member of the satirical magazine "Corriere Emiliano" and served as a reporter, writing articles, stories, and editorial columns, as well as drawing cartoons. He soon became the editor-in-chief of the magazine.

In 1934, Guareschi joined the military service in Potenza, and a year later, the owners of "Corriere Emiliano" laid him off due to staff reductions. His military service ended in 1936 in Modena, where he was transferred with the rank of reserve lieutenant. During his college years at the University of Parma, Guareschi met Cesare Zavattini, who later became a prominent novelist, screenwriter, and director. Zavattini, now residing in Milan, invited his old acquaintance to participate in the creation of a new humor magazine called "Bertoldo". Guareschi became the editor-in-chief of the magazine from 1936 to 1943.

In 1943, Guareschi was conscripted into the army, which helped him avoid problems with the fascist authorities. He became an artillery officer. When Italy signed an armistice with the Allied forces in 1943, Guareschi was arrested and sent to a camp in occupied Poland, where he spent the next three years with other Italian soldiers. He later wrote about this period in his book "Diario Clandestino" (Underground Diary, 1949).

After the war, Guareschi returned to Italy and founded the monarchist satirical magazine "Candido". When Italy became a republic, he began supporting the Christian Democratic Party and criticized and satirized communists in his magazine. After the communists suffered a devastating defeat in the 1948 elections, Guareschi continued his critique, directing it towards the Christian Democrats.

In 1954, Guareschi was accused of defamation after publishing two facsimiles of wartime letters from Resistance leader and former prime minister Alcide De Gasperi, in which he demanded that the allies drop bombs on the outskirts of Rome to demoralize German collaborators. The court failed to prove the legitimacy of the letters, and after two months of trial, a verdict was issued in favor of De Gasperi. Guareschi refused to appeal the sentence and spent 409 days in the San Francesco prison in Parma, followed by six months of probation at his home.

By 1956, Guareschi's health had deteriorated, and he spent more and more time in Switzerland due to his health condition. In 1957, he resigned as the editor of "Candido" but continued working on material for the magazine. Giovannino Guareschi passed away on July 22, 1968, due to a heart attack.