Raffaele Masto (12 December 1953 – 28 March 2020) was an Italian journalist, writer and radio host.

Biography

Masto was born in

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 ...

in 1953. From 1989, he worked as journalist at the foreign news office of

Radio Popolare Radio Popolare (or RP) is an independent radio station based in Milan, Italy. Founded in 1976, Radio Popolare is one of the oldest listener-supported radio stations in Italy. Mostly known for its progressive and liberal political orientation, in ...

. He was sent to Middle East, Latin America and especially to Africa, the continent where he found the inspiration for many of his essays, mainly published by

Sperling & Kupfer Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...

and by

Baldini & Castoldi Baldini + Castoldi, formerly known as Baldini Castoldi Dalai Editore until 2018, is an Italian publishing house founded in 1897 as Baldini & Castoldi. It changed its name to Dalai Editore in 2011, and Baldini & Castoldi became a series of Dalai ...

. Also in Africa he made several documentaries and reportages on political, social and anthropological themes. For many years he wrote for the magazine ''Africa'', for which he edited the in-depth analysis blog ''Buongiorno Africa'' ("Good morning, Africa"). In his books, always based on direct experience as a foreign correspondent, Masto dealt with the themes of poverty and injustice that affect the peoples of the

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

. During his travels, he was repeatedly a guest at the centers of the Milanese NGO Amani in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. In 2019, he married his longtime partner Gisele Kra, from the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. In late 2019, Masto was hospitalized in

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

where he underwent a successful

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedure is to take a functioning heart ...

; while recovering in hospital, in February 2020, he was infected by

SARS-Cov-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...

, leading to his death in

on 28 March 2020, at age 66.

Books

* 1998 – ''La nuova colonizzazione'' , Baldini& Castoldi Dalai * 2000 – ''Debito da morire'', Baldini& Castoldi Dalai * 2001 – ''No Global'', Zelig Editrice * 2002 – ''Informazione negata'', Zelig Editrice * 2003 – ''In Africa. Ritratto di un continente senza pace'',

* 2005 – ''Io Safiya'',

* 2006 – ''L'Africa del tesoro. Diamanti, oro, petrolio'',

* 2008 – ''La scelta di Said. Storia di un kamikaze'',

* 2011 – ''Buongiorno Africa'', Bruno Mondadori * 2016 – ''Califfato Nero'', Laterza * 2019 – ''La variabile africana. Riserve naturali ed equilibrio geopolitico del pianeta'', Egea

References

External links

Buongiorno Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masto, Raffaele Italian male journalists Italian male writers Italian bloggers Italian male bloggers Italian radio presenters 1953 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Lombardy Writers from Milan