Guglielmo Guastaveglia (6 April 1889 – 1984), also known as Guasta, Guglielmo Guasta and Guasta Veglia, was an Italian illustrator, comics artist and writer. He was the first cartoonist to produce autoctone

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

comic strips in Italy.

Life and career

Born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Guastaveglia made his professional debut in 1908, in the magazine '' Il Travaso delle idee'', and collaborated with other publications including

Vamba Luigi Bertelli (19 March 1860 - 27 November 1920), best known as Vamba, was an Italian writer, illustrator and journalist. Biography Born in Florence, having completed his studies Bertelli became a railway employer, working first in Rimini and ...

's ''Corriere della Domenica''. In 1921 he was named editor of ''Il Travaso'', which under his direction exceeded a sales run of 300,000 copies, but in 1925 he was dismissed because of his antifascism. He then started collaborating, under pseudonyms, with other publications, including ''

Corriere dei Piccoli The ''Corriere dei Piccoli'' (Italian for "Courier of the Little Ones"), later nicknamed ''Corrierino'' ("Little Courier"), was a weekly magazine for children published in Italy from 1908 to 1995. It was the first Italian periodical to make a re ...

'' and ''

Il Giornalino della Domenica ''Il giornalino della Domenica'' was ‘the prototype of the modern periodical for children in Italy’.Katia Pizzi (paper presented at the 15th Biennial Congress of the International Research Society for Children's Literature, 2001). The magazin ...

''. In 1927 he founded with his wife Olga and the poet

Trilussa Carlo Alberto Camillo Mariano SalustriSome biographers as Claudio Rendina report ''Marianum'' as his fourth name (Rendina, p.19) (26 October 1871 – 21 December 1950), known by the pseudonym Trilussa (an anagram of his last name), was an Italia ...

a puppet theatre, "Baracca delle Favole" ('Fairytale Hut'). In 1931, Guastaveglia began collaborating with ''Il Popolo di Roma'', a newspaper founded in 1925 to replace the Roman edition of ''

Il Popolo d'Italia ''Il Popolo d'Italia'' (; ) was an Italian newspaper published from 15 November 1914 until 24 July 1943. It was founded by Benito Mussolini as a pro-war newspaper during World War I, and it later became the main newspaper of the Fascist movemen ...

'', and which under the direction of Paolo De Cristofaro employed many anti-fascist intellectuals, including Adriano Tilgher,

Mario Missiroli Mario Missiroli (13 March 1934 – 19 May 2014) was an Italian stage, television and film director. Born in Bergamo, at a young age Missiroli moved to Milan with his family. Later. he graduated in direction from the Accademia d'Arte Drammati ...

Corrado Alvaro Corrado Alvaro (15 April 1895 – 11 June 1956) was an Italian journalist and writer of novels, short stories, screenplays and plays. He often used the '' verismo'' style to describe the hopeless poverty in his native Calabria. His first suc ...

and . In the newspaper he wrote and illustrated a series of comic strips featuring

and

Minnie Mouse Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

; in his autoctone and unauthorized comic universe, Mickey Mouse was more similar to a

Commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

character than to his American counterpart, and his stories featured

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan (film producer), Pat Sullivan during the silent film era. An anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, ...

and Kat Nipp as main antagonists. In 1932, he was employed by ''

Marc'Aurelio ''Marc'Aurelio'' was an Italian satirical magazine, published between 1931 and 1958, and briefly resurrected in 1973. History and profile The weekly magazine was founded in Rome by Oberdan Catone and Vito De Bellis in 1931. It was the first satir ...

''. In 1944, he founded the "Funny Faces Shop" with his ''Marc'Aurelio'' colleagues

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

and Carlo Ludovico Bompiani. In 1946, Guastaveglia was reinstated as editor of ''Il Travaso delle Idee'', which he directed until 1962. He was also active as a caricaturist, a painter, a children book author and an essayist, notably writing an encyclopaedia of humour ("''Enciclopedia dell'Umorismo''") in four volumes. In 1972, he played

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

in Fellini's ''

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

''.

References

External links

Guglielmo Guastaveglia
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the prov ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guastaveglia, Guglielmo Italian illustrators Italian comics artists Italian comics writers 1889 births 1984 deaths Artists from Rome