Giuseppe "Beppe" Severgnini (; born 26 December 1956) is an Italian

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

Biography

Born in Crema, Severgnini graduated in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

. His father was a public notary. His career in journalism began when, aged 24, he joined the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

daily newspaper ''

Il Giornale ''il Giornale'' ( en, The Newspaper) is an Italian language daily newspaper published in Milan, Italy. History and profile The newspaper was founded in 1974 by the journalist Indro Montanelli, together with the colleagues Enzo Bettiza, Ferenc ...

'', headed by Italian journalist

Indro Montanelli Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli (; 22 April 1909 – 22 July 2001) was an Italian journalist, historian and writer. He was one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes according to the International Press Institute. A volunte ...

; he soon distinguished himself as a writer and became the paper's

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

correspondent. For ''Il Giornale'', in the period leading up to the

fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

, he worked as special correspondent from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and several

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

an countries. When Montanelli left ''Il Giornale'' to found '' La Voce'', Severgnini followed him. He was also seconded to ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' in London (1993) then served as correspondent for ''La Voce'' from Washington. He was a correspondent from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for ''The Economist'' between 1996 and 2003, for which he still occasionally writes. He was a contributing opinion writer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' from 2013 to 2021. Following the failure of Montanelli's project at ''La Voce'', in 1995 Severgnini joined the ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of I ...

'', Italy's biggest newspaper, for which he currently is an op-ed columnist and an editor. Since 1998, he hosts a daily column for the online edition of the ''Corriere della Sera'' called ''Italians'', originally targeting Italian expatriates; it has steadily grown in popularity since, eventually becoming one of the most read regular features of the newspaper's website. An enthusiastic soccer fan, he also wrote for the popular sports newspaper ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

'' from 2001 to 2011. Severgnini appears regularly on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

and TV programs on

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

La7 La7 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned by Cairo Communication. Until 2013 it was a pay-per-view channel owned by Telecom Italia Media and operated by Telecom Italia. Signal overspill means that parts of Albania, Croatia, Swi ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and the BBC. He was the host of a talk show on

SKY TG24 Sky TG24 is Italy's second all-news channel, owned by Sky Italia. Launched on 31 July 2003, it provides non-stop rolling news, weather forecasts and sports stories with half-hourly updates. Overview Part of Sky TG24's programming is available ...

from 2004 to 2011 and for

in 2015 and 2016. He is the author of twenty books, including the American bestsellers ''Ciao, America! An Italian Discovers the U.S.'' and ''La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind''. His most recent books are ''Off the Rail – A Train Trip Through Life'' (Berkley, New York 2019) and ''Neoitaliani'' (Rizzoli, Milan 2020), which will be published in 2022 in the US as ''Italian Lessons: 50 Things We Know About Life Now'' (Viking Penguin Books USA) Beppe Severgnini taught at the Walter Tobagi graduate School of Journalism at the University of Milan (2010–2020). He has been a research fellow/writer in residence at MIT/Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009), Isaiah Berlin Visiting Scholar at Oxford University (2013) and a visiting fellow at Ca' Foscari Venezia (2013); he has taught also at Middlebury College Vermont (2006), and at the universities of Milan-Bocconi (2003 and 2006), Parma (1998) and Pavia (2002), which elected him Alumnus of the Year in 1998 and 2011. Beppe Severgnini was made

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 2001 by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. He was also made ''Commendatore'' of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

in 2011. He's a Roman Catholic but criticises the Church for its opposition to anti-homophobic violence laws.

Bibliography

*''Parlar sul Serio. Storie di Crema, 1979-1981'', Crema, Artigrafiche Leva, 1981 . *''Inglesi'', Milano, Rizzoli, 1990 . *''L'inglese. Lezioni semiserie'', Milano, Rizzoli, 1992 . *''Italiani con valigia. Il Belpaese in viaggio'', Milano, Rizzoli, 1993 . *''L'inglese. Nuove lezioni semiserie'', Milano, Biblioteca universale Rizzoli, 1994 . *''Un italiano in America'', Milano, Rizzoli, 1995 . *''Confronti'', Milano, Rizzoli, 1996 . *''Italiani si diventa'', Milano, Rizzoli, 1998 . *''Manuale dell'imperfetto viaggiatore'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2000 . *''Interismi. Il piacere di essere neroazzurri'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2002 . *''Manuale dell'uomo domestico'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2002 . *''Altri interismi. Un nuovo viaggio nel favoloso labirinto neroazzurro'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2003 . *''Manuale dell'imperfetto sportivo'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2003 . *''La testa degli italiani'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2005 . *''L'italiano. Lezioni semiserie'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2007 . *''Tripli interismi! Lieto fine di un romanzo neroazzurro'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2007 . *''Manuale del perfetto interista'', Milano, BUR extra, 2007 . *''Italians. Il giro del mondo in 80 pizze'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2008 . *''Manuale dell'uomo normale'', Milano, BUR, 2008 . *''Manuale del perfetto turista'', Milano, BUR extra, 2009 . *''Imperfetto manuale di lingue'', Milano, BUR extra, 2010 . *''Eurointerismi. La gioia di essere neroazzurri'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2010 . *''La pancia degli italiani. Berlusconi spiegato ai posteri'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2010 . *''Italiani di domani'', Milano, Rizzoli, 2012 .

References

External links

*
''Italians'', daily web column of Severgnini for ''Corriere.it''
*
''Booknotes'' interview with Severgnini on ''Ciao America! An Italian Discovers the U.S.'', July 28, 2002.Official OMRI webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Severgnini, Beppe 1956 births Living people People from Crema, Lombardy Italian journalists Italian male journalists Italian Roman Catholics University of Pavia alumni Academic staff of the University of Parma Academic staff of the University of Pavia Honorary Officers of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic