Gianni Rodari

Giovanni Francesco "Gianni" Rodari (; 23 October 1920 – 14 April 1980) was an Italian writer and journalist, most famous for his works of children's literature, notably Il romanzo di Cipollino. For his lasting contribution as a children's author, he received the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1970.

Biography Rodari was born in Omegna, a small town on Lake Orta in the province of Verbania-Cusio-Ossola in northern Italy. His father, a baker, died when Rodari was only eight. Rodari and his two brothers, Cesare and Mario (who were younger than him), were raised by his mother in her native village, in the province of Varese. After three years at the seminary in Seveso, 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 an interest in music (three years of violin lessons) and literature (discovered the works of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Lenin and Trotsky, which sharpened his critical sense). In 1939, for a short time, Rodari attended the Catholic University of Milan.

During World War II, 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 and was forced to join the National Fascist Party. Traumatized by the loss of his two best friends and his favourite brother Cesare's incarceration in a German concentration camp, Rodari joined the Italian Communist Party in 1944 and participated in the Italian resistance movement.

In 1948, as a journalist for the Communist periodical L'Unità, he began writing books for children. In 1950, the Party installed him as editor of the new weekly children's magazine Il Pioniere in Rome.

Works

He is perhaps best known for developing the story of Cipollino. The story of Cipollino was popular enough to have a ballet staged in the Soviet Union in 1973, composed by Karen Khachaturian and choreographed by Henrich Mayorov. 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.

Il libro delle filastrocche (“The Book of Children's Poems”, 1950) Il romanzo di Cipollino (“The Adventures of Cipollino, the Little Onion”, 1951) La Freccia Azzurra (“The Blue Arrow”, 1954) 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) Tante storie per giocare (“Many Stories to Play With”, 1971) 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 Il libro dei perché (The Book of Whys, 1984)

Tribute On 23 October 2020 Google celebrated his 100th birthday with a Google Doodle.

In the 2026 Winter Olympics - Opening Ceremony, rapper Ghali recited Rodari's poem Promemoria (Memorandum). The lines included: “There are things you must never do, not by day nor by night, not by sea nor by shore: for example, war.”