Giovannino Guareschi

Giovannino Guareschi (May 1, 1908 - July 22, 1968) was an Italian journalist, cartoonist and humorist whose most famous creation is the priest Don Camillo.

Giovannino Guareschi was born in Fontanelle di Roccabianca, near Parma, Italy, into a middle-class family. In 1926 his family went bankrupt and he could not continue his studies. After unsuccessful studies in the University of Parma and various minor jobs, he started to write for a local newspaper. In 1929 he became editor of the satirical magazine "Corriere Emiliano" and from 1936 to 1943 he was the chief editor of a similar magazine called "Bertoldo".

During World War II, he criticized Mussolini's government. In 1943 he was drafted into the army, which apparently helped him to avoid trouble with the fascist authorities. He ended up as an artillery officer.

When Italy signed the armistice with Allied troops in 1943, he was arrested and imprisoned in prison camps in Poland for three years alongside other Italian soldiers. He later wrote about this time in "Diario Clandestino" ("Clandestine Diary").

After the war, Guareschi returned to Italy and founded a monarchist satirical magazine, "Candido". After Italy became a republic, he began to support Democrazia Cristiana. He criticized and satirized the Communists in his magazine, famously drawing a Communist as a man with an extra nostril. When the Communists were soundly defeated in the 1948 Italian elections, Guareschi did not put his pen down but criticized Democrazia Cristiana as well.

In 1954 Guareschi was charged with libel after he had published a fake wartime letter from resistance leader Alcide De Gasperi (subsequently a post-war prime minister), telling the Allies to bomb Rome in order to demoralize German collaborators. Guareschi was sentenced to 12 months in Parma prison but was released early for good behavior.

By 1956 his health had deteriorated and he began to spend time in Switzerland for health reasons. In 1957 he retired from the post of editor of "Candido" but remained a contributor. In 1968 he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Some books (see also Don Camillo):

*"La scoperta di Milano" (1941)
*"Il destino si chiama Clotilde" (1943)
*"Il marito in collegio" (1944)
*"Favola di natale" (1945)
*"Diario Clandestino" 1943-1945 (1946)
*"Italia Provvisoria" (1947)
*"Lo zibaldino" (1948)
*"Corrierino delle famiglie" (1954)
*"Vita in famiglia" (1968)

Published English Translations

* The Little World of Don Camillo (1950)
* Don Camillo and his Flock (1952)
* The House That Nino Built (1953)
* Don Camillo's Dilemma (1954)
* Don Camillo Takes the Devil by the Tail (in USA); Don Camillo and the Devil (in UK) (1957)
* My Secret Diary (1958)
* Comrade Don Camillo (1963, translation 1964)
* My Home, Sweet Home (1954, translation 1966)
* A Husband in a Boarding School (1967)
* Duncan & Clotilda: An Extravaganza with a Long Digression (1968)
* Don Camillo Meets the Flower Children (in USA); Don Camillo Meets Hell's Angels (in UK) (1969)
* The Family Guareschi: Chronicles of the Past and Present (1970)

External links

* [http://www.giovanninoguareschi.com/ Tutto il mondo di Guareschi (Official Site)]
* [http://openlettersmonthly.com/issue/january-river-mountain/ A review] of "Little World of Don Camillo" at Open Letters Monthly
* [http://www.mondoguareschi.com/ World of Giovannino Guareschi]
* [http://www.mondopiccologuareschi.com/ Virtual Travel in the Little World of Guareschi]