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

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

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 (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, and

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

Biography

Born in

Crema, Lombardy Crema (; ) is a city and (municipality) in the province of Cremona, in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is built along the river Serio River, Serio at from Cremona. It is also the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Crema, who gave the tit ...

, Severgnini graduated in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

. His father was a public

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

. His career in journalism began when, aged 24, he joined the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

daily newspaper ''

Il Giornale (), known from its founding in 1974 until 1983 as (), is an Italian-language daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 28,933 in May 2023. In 2006, it was considered one of Italy's main national newspapers. History an ...

'', headed by Italian journalist Indro Montanelli; he soon distinguished himself as a writer and became the paper's

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, Severgnini worked as special correspondent from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and several

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

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 newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

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

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

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

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

'', Italy's biggest newspaper, for which he still 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 (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

'' from 2001 to 2011. Severgnini appears regularly on

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and TV programs on RAI, La7,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. He was the host of a talk show on SKY TG24 from 2004 to 2011 and for RAI in 2015 and 2016. Severgnini 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 was published in 2022 in the US as ''Italian Lessons: 50 Things We Know About Life Now'' (Viking Penguin Books USA) 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. 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 2001 by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

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

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...

in 2011. He is 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