Milko Bambič

Milko Bambič (26 April 1905 – 20 May 1991) also known by the nicknames Cvetanov and Banetov, was a prolific illustrator, cartoonist, caricaturist, inventor, children's writer, publicist, and painter from the Slovene minority in Italy (1920-1947). He is regarded as one of the most versatile Slovene artists and a prominent Italian Futurist painter. an allegory of Mussolini's career, Because the Italian Fascist authorities recognised the message as politically motivated, Bambič had to leave Trieste for Yugoslavia to avoid arrest. In that year, he moved to Ljubljana, where he undertook the study of architecture, but did not finish it. He was bestowed with the Marcello Mascherini Award in 1975, and in 1978 held an exhibition in the Sežana library that raised interest in him in Slovene circles. In 1980, he had a retrospective exhibition in Villa Opicina, and a large exhibition in Trieste in 1985.

Work Overall, Bambič illustrated over 70 books, among them the poem collection Tičistan by Aleš Debeljak. In addition to his comic strips and caricatures, he also produced the first Slovene youth book in colour lithography, St. Nicholas's Night, written by Josip Ribičič. He spoke nine languages and translated poems, for example by Russian poet Alexander Blok and Italian poet Michelle Chaunier, with some work published. He held seven patents in different European countries. For the major part of his life, he was very connected with his home town of Trieste, where he was the leading Slovene illustrator. He also wrote and illustrated children's literature. His painting was based on Vienna Secession and Slovene Impressionism. His caricatures and illustrations have been described as light, innovative, humorous and anecdotal. In the Italian press, he was a valued art critic and also published articles about art, education, technology, national issues and other topics. On the hundredth anniversary of his birth, a conference and three exhibitions of his work were organised.