Carlo Collodi

File:Pinocchio.jpg

Pinocchio, by Enrico Mazzanti (1852–1910), the first illustrator (1883) of The Adventures of Pinocchio

Carlo Lorenzini (; 24 November 1826 – 26 October 1890), better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; ), was an Italian author, humourist, and journalist, widely known for his fairy tale novel The Adventures of Pinocchio.

Early life

Lorenzini was born in Florence on 24 November 1826. His mother Angiolina Orzali Lorenzini was a seamstress from Collodi, the town from which he later took the pen name, and his father Domenico Lorenzini was a cook. Both parents worked for the Ginori Lisci. Carlo was the eldest child in the family and he had ten siblings; seven died at a young age. He spent most of his childhood in the town of Collodi where his mother was born. He lived there with his maternal grandmother. After attending primary school, he was sent to study at a theological seminary in Colle Val d'Elsa. An account at the seminary shows that the had offered financial aid, but the boy found that he did not want to be a priest so he continued his education at the College of the Scolopi Fathers in Florence. In 1844, he started working at the Florentine bookstore Libreria Piatti, where he assisted Giuseppe Aiazzi, a prominent Italian manuscript specialist.

Career

During the Italian Wars of Independence in 1848 and 1860, Lorenzini served as a volunteer with the Tuscan Army. His active interest in political matters can be seen in his earliest literary works, as well as in the founding of the satirical newspaper in 1853. This newspaper was censored by order of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1854, he published his second newspaper, ("The Controversy"). Lorenzini's first publications were in his periodicals. A debut came in 1856 with the play and parodic guidebook , both in 1856. By 1860, he published his first notable work called (Mr. Alberi Is Right!), which outlined his political and cultural vision of Italy. This is the text where Lorenzini started using the Collodi pseudonym, which was taken from his mother's hometown.

Lorenzini had also begun intense activity on other political newspapers such as ; at the same time he was employed by the Censorship Commission for the Theatre. During this period he composed various satirical sketches and stories (sometimes simply by collating earlier articles), including (1880), (1881), and (1887).

Lorenzini became disenchanted with Italian politics afterwards, so he turned to children's literature and his first works involved translating French fairy tales into Italian. In 1875, for instance, he completed , a translation of French fairy tales by Charles Perrault. In 1876, Lorenzini wrote (inspired by Alessandro Luigi Parravicini's Giannetto), the , and , a pedagogic series which explored the unification of Italy through the ironic thoughts and actions of the character Giannettino.

Lorenzini became fascinated by the idea of using an amiable, rascally character as a means of expressing his own convictions through allegory. In 1880, he began writing (Story of a Marionette), also called Le avventure di Pinocchio, which was published weekly in . Pinocchio was adapted into a 1940 film by Disney that is considered to be one of Disney's greatest films.

Lorenzini died suddenly in Florence on 26 October 1890 at the age of 63 and is interred at Cimitero Monumentale Delle Porte Sante in Florence.Template:Sfn The National Carlo Collodi Foundation was established in 1962 to promote education and the works of Collodi, and Pinocchio Park, which was opened in 1956 in the town of Collodi and remains a popular attraction today.

Bibliography

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External links

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• • The Adventures of Pinocchio at Project Gutenberg (translated from the Italian by Carol Della Chiesa)
• Template:Internet Archive author
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• Pinocchio Park Collodi Tuscany
• New York Review of Books
• Carlo Collodi National Foundation Collodi Tuscany
• Template:PAGENAMEBASE at Find a GraveTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Carlo Collodi and Modern Politics – Any Parallels ?
• from "Pinocchio. Le avventure di un burattino" listen to chapt.1 – 2 – 12 audio mp3 for free