Gianni Rodari biography in English. Gianni rodari biography. Literary and journalistic activities

There was once a very small and very strange country in the world. It all consisted of ninety-nine houses. Each house had a small garden surrounded by a fence, and a dog lived behind each fence. And each barked.

Take, for example, house number one. Here lived a dog named Faithful. He jealously guarded his house from the neighbors, and so that no one would think that he was doing his job poorly, he barked long and loudly whenever the inhabitants of the other ninety-eight houses passed by, regardless of who was walking: a woman, a man or child. The other ninety-eight dogs did the same. So, you yourself understand, they had many worries: they had to bark from morning to evening and even at night, because there was always someone walking along the street.

And here is another example. The signor, who lived in house number ninety-nine, on his way back from work, had to pass by all ninety-eight houses, and consequently by ninety-eight dogs, who barked after him, showing fangs and making it clear that they would willingly clutch his trousers . The same thing happened to the inhabitants of other houses, so that there was always someone trembling with fear in the street.

Well, now imagine what happened when some stranger came to this country. Then all ninety-nine dogs barked at once, all ninety-nine owners went out onto the porch to see what had happened, and then hurriedly returned to the house, locked the door, hastily lowered the shutters and sat quietly, quietly, peeping through the crack at the stranger as he passed past.

From the incessant barking of dogs, the inhabitants of this country gradually became deaf and almost stopped talking to each other. However, they had nothing to talk about among themselves. Little by little, sitting like that all the time in silence, frowning, they generally forgot how to speak. Well, in the end, it so happened that the owners of the houses themselves also began to bark like dogs. Perhaps they thought they were talking like a human, but in fact, when they opened their mouths, they heard only something like “wow-wow!” - and from this goosebumps ran through the skin. And so it was in that country: dogs barked, men and women barked, children barked when they played in the yard. And ninety-nine houses turned into ninety-nine dog kennels.

However, the houses were neat in appearance, clean curtains hung on the windows, geraniums were visible behind the glass, and there were even other flowers on the balconies.

Once in this country there was Giovannino the Loafer. He wandered there, making one of his famous journeys. Ninety-nine dogs greeted him with a concert from which even a stone pedestal could turn into a neurasthenic! Giovannino asked a woman something, and she answered him with a bark. He said something affectionate to some kid and heard a dull growl in response.

- I understand! said Giovannino the Loafer. - It's an epidemic!

Then he came to the most important city chief and said:

“I know a good remedy for your illness. First of all, order to destroy all the fences - the gardens will bloom perfectly without them. Secondly, send all the dogs on the hunt - they will have a little fun and become kinder. Thirdly, arrange a big ball, and after the first waltz, all the inhabitants will again learn to speak like a human being.

- Bow-wow! The chief answered him.

- I understand! Giovannino said. - The most seriously ill is the one who thinks that he is healthy - and went on to travel further.

If you hear at night that several dogs are barking somewhere, it may turn out that these are real dogs, but it may turn out that it is the inhabitants of that very small country that are barking.

October 23 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Italian writer and journalist Gianni Rodari.

Italian writer and journalist Gianni Rodari was born on October 23, 1920 in the town of Omegna in northern Italy. The boy's father, Giuseppe Rodari, was a baker - the owner of a small bakery and a bakery and grocery store.

As a child, Gianni Rodari was sick a lot, he was a very weak child. Despite this, he learned to play the violin, composed poetry, drew with pleasure and dreamed of becoming famous artist. When the boy was 9 years old, his father died. The family has had a difficult time. To feed her family (Gianni had two more brothers - Cesare and Mario), her mother got a job as a servant in a rich house.

Gianni Rodari had to study at the theological seminary - there they not only taught the children of the poor, but also fed and clothed them for free.

After graduating from the seminary in 1937, he was forced to go to work to help his family. Rodari became a teacher in primary school and at the same time attended lectures at the philological faculty of the University of Milan, read literature on philosophy and social science - Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Trotsky, Lenin.

After Pioneer, Rodari worked in the Avangard youth magazine, then he moved to the mass left-wing newspaper Paese Sera, where he worked as a literary collaborator until the end of his life. His feuilletons appeared almost daily on its pages. He also published in various Italian publications, led a column for children on the radio.

For three decades of literary work, Gianni Rodari published more than a dozen books for children - in verse and prose. Rodari's poems (collections Book of Jolly Poems, 1951; Train of Poems, 1952; Poems in Heaven and on Earth, 1960; etc.) showed the writer's ability to reveal the complexity and significance of the world in a familiar and small phenomenon.

The tales of Rodari are very interesting and informative. The most famous of them is the fairy tale story "The Adventures of Chipollino" (1951, the Russian translation of Marshak was published in 1953) about an onion boy and his friends. The heroes of this fairy tale live in a fantasy country inhabited by little men-vegetables, little men-fruits. The fairy tale constantly combines reality and fiction. The author made it a rule: entertaining, talking about serious things. Cheerful, never discouraged, Cipollino protects the poor, fights for justice, opposes cruelty and evil.

The work gained especially wide popularity in the USSR, where a cartoon (1961) was shot on it, and then the film the fairy tale "Cipollino" (1973), where Gianni Rodari starred in an episodic role.

Rodari wrote several more fairy tales: "The Adventures of the Blue Arrow" (1952), "Gelsomino in the Land of Liars" (1959), "Tales on the Phone" (1961), "Cake in the Sky" (1966) and others.

The only book that the author addressed to adults, but which, as he joked, "by mistake" many children read, was "Fantasy Grammar" with the subtitle - "Introduction to the art of inventing stories." In this book, Rodari tries to teach adults to come up with entertaining stories to awaken the imagination of their children, to help them develop such a valuable quality for a person.

In Italy, Gianni Rodari remained unknown as a writer for a long time, and he perceived himself only as a journalist. His name became popular primarily due to numerous translations into Russian. The best translations of Rodari's poems belong to Samuil Marshak. Only after the Adventures of Cipollino was translated into Russian in 1953 did the triumphal procession of the works of Gianni Rodari begin around the world. Over time, and in the homeland of the writer - in Italy, Rodari's poems and fairy tales began to be included in school textbooks.

Fame came to the writer, millions of copies of books, high literary titles and awards. For the book "Cake in the sky" Gianni Rodari received a pan-European award and a gold medal. High awards were given to "Jeep on TV" and "Book of Errors". In 1967 he was recognized the best writer Italy. And in 1970, for the totality of all the works of Gianni Rodari, the International Gold Medal named after Hans Christian Andersen was awarded - the highest award in children's literature.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources.

Rodari was born on October 23, 1920 in the small town of Omegna (northern Italy). His father, a baker by profession, died when Gianni was only ten years old. Sickly and weak from childhood, the boy was fond of music (he took violin lessons) and books (he read Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Lenin and Trotsky). After three years of study at the seminary, Rodari received a teaching diploma and, at the age of 17, began teaching in the elementary grades of local rural schools. In 1939 he attended the Faculty of Philology of the University of Milan for some time.

During World War II, Rodari was released from service due to ill health. After the death of two close friends and the imprisonment of his brother Cesare in a concentration camp, he became a member of the Resistance Movement and in 1944 joined the Italian Communist Party.

In 1948, Rodari became a journalist for the Communist newspaper L'Unita and began writing books for children. In 1950 the party appointed him editor of a newly created weekly magazine for children, Il Pioniere, in Rome. In 1951, Rodari published his first collection of poems, The Book of Jolly Poems, and his famous work"The Adventures of Chipollino" (Russian translation was published in 1953). This work received especially wide popularity in the USSR.
In 1952, for the first time, he went to the USSR, where he later visited several times.

In 1953 he married Maria Teresa Feretti, who four years later gave birth to his daughter, Paola. In 1957, Rodari passed the exam for the title of professional journalist. Between 1966 and 1969, Rodari published no books and only worked on projects with children.

In 1970, the writer received the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Prize, which helped him gain worldwide fame.
He also wrote poems that reached the Russian reader in the translations of Samuil Marshak.

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Grinder

Pressing the pedal with your foot
He turned the wheel with a strap.

He carried the wheel on his back,
And I walked along the roads.

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

Tram

The rooster does not wake me up at dawn:
The tram signals disturb my hearing.

Dressed in their dark blue overalls,
Workers go first along the line.

Behind them in the car of the second tram
Officials go, reading newspapers.

And in the third tram fuss, fuss:
A bunch of guys take their places.

They repeat while moving
Addition, division, declension, conjugation.

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

"We take the junk!"

Hey, old man - "We take the junk!"
What are you carrying in your bag?

- I carry a shoe without a heel,
One sleeve without jacket
A bow without a violin and a collar,
Noseless teapot and coffee pot,
Yes, a cast iron pot
Rusted through, without a bottom.
I carry the minister without a briefcase.
He ruled without a year for a week
And called the country to war.
He's at my bottom!

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

A poem about a tinker

A poem about a tinker, a cheerful guy,
He melts lead into shiny tin.
He brews medicines in a camp pharmacy
A sick frying pan, a crippled pan.

He will fix the kettle - and the kettle is healthy.
He is a doctor of pans, a professor of boilers.
He treats the coffee pot spout and bottom,
And the old coffee pot sparkles like the sun.

His hospital is on the stones of the pavement,
And the sun burns over his head.

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

Naples without the sun

In Naples - in the city of bright light -
There is a lane called Pallonetto.

Crooked lane is dark and cramped -
No sky, no sun, no sea, no songs.

Will the song be sung by someone
For you, my Naples, without sky, without light?

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

Venice

The old bridge looks into the lagoon,
And so the water is clear.
That the same bridge rises in it.
Same moon.

Light as the sky, depth.
Full of the same stars.
Where is the real moon?
Where is the real bridge?

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

Toy railway

There is such a country in the world
Where children travel in their trains.

In real trains - with smoke, steam,
With the driver, conductor and fireman.

On real rails and sleepers
The train goes to the real stations.

The head of the station - from inches,
A little more than a whistle.

Helper halfway
In short, your flag.

The main conductor is young too,
And the controller is even younger.

Places for traveling children -
In front of the car windows.
Travelers look through the windows
During the race.

Takes at the entrance of the passenger
Ticket before boarding.
The cashier hung over the cash register
This inscription is short:

"Parents who want
Get into the childish wagon,
With an accompanying person
Come to the platform!”

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

Couch potato

On Monday
I woke up,
And on Tuesday
I yawned
On Wednesday
Stretched sweetly,
And on Thursday
I fell asleep again.

I slept on Friday
On Saturday
I didn't go
To work,
But on Sunday
Slept all day without waking up!

J. Rodari translated by Marshak

October 23, 1920, in the northern Italian town of Omegna, in the family of the owner of a small bakery, the boy Gianni was born, who was destined to become one of the best storytellers in Italy. His father, Giuseppe Rodari, was the head of a large family and not at all a rich man - and all of Italy at the beginning of the 20th century was very far from prosperity. People had to go to work in neighboring countries - France, Switzerland, Germany. But the baker Rodari managed to find his place in life, and somehow the family made ends meet.

The childhood of the future storyteller proceeded in a loving family, but he was born weak and often sick. Parents devoted a lot of time to communicating with children, taught them to draw and play the violin. Gianni's craving for drawing was so great that at one time he even dreamed of becoming an artist. He also wanted to become a master of toys, so that children would play with unusual and never boring mechanical toys that would never bother them. All his life he believed that toys for children are as important as books. Otherwise, children simply will not be able to properly relate to the world around them, they will not become kind.

Gianni was only nine years old when a terrible tragedy struck the family. It happened because of Giuseppe Rodari's love for animals - in heavy rain he picked up a kitten on the street, miserable and wet, and on the way home he got wet to the bone and caught a bad cold. It took just a week for pneumonia to bring to the grave the cheerful and beloved father of the family. Times are hard for the widow and children. In order to somehow feed the family, the mother got a job in a rich house as a servant. Only this allowed Gianni and his two brothers Mario and Cesare to survive.

The Rodari family could not afford a regular school, and therefore Gianni began to study at a theological seminary, where they taught, fed, and even dressed seminarians from poor families for free. The boy was very bored in the seminary. Later, Rodari said that he could not remember more boring days than studying at the seminary in his life, and argued that for such studies you need to have the patience and imagination of a cow. All that interested Gianni in this educational institution was the library. Here he was able to read many amazing books that awakened the boy's imagination and gave him bright dreams. Despite his love of drawing, Gianni's grades in this subject at the seminary were invariably poor. Of course, he did not become a real artist, but perseverance allowed him to develop amazing vigilance and literally grasp the very essence of things on the fly. True, he embodied these pictures in words.

In 1937, Gianni Rodari graduated from the seminary and immediately got a job to bring money to the family. He began teaching in elementary school, and at the same time attended lectures in philology at the University of Milan and with great interest independently studied philosophy and social science, mastering the works of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Lenin and Trotsky. In his lessons at school, Rodari tried to simplify learning for children and for this he came up with instructive and funny stories. Under his guidance, the students built houses from cubes with letters and, together with their teacher, invented fairy tales. It is possible that Rodari, who loved children very much, would have become a world-famous teacher, but the Second World War broke many destinies. She also influenced Gianni Rodari.

True, he was not taken into the army - he did not pass the medical commission, but many of Rodari's friends and acquaintances were arrested, two of them died, and Cesare's brother ended up in a concentration camp. As a result, Rodari realized that it was necessary to fight what was happening in the world, and joined the Resistance Movement, and before the end of the war, in 1944, he became a member of the Italian Communist Party. The end of the war caught Rodari at party work. He often visited factories and factories, in villages and villages, and also took part in many rallies and demonstrations. In 1948, Gianni began working for the newspaper Unita (Unity) as a journalist. He had to travel a lot around the country, getting news for his newspaper. After some time, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper offered the young journalist a separate topic for Sunday issues dedicated to children, and Rodari began to lead the Children's Corner. On these pages he places his own entertaining and funny poems and fairy tales, full of fantasy and kindness. Later, many publications reprinted these stories, full of smiles and fiction.

The leaders of the Communist Party quickly appreciated the talent and perseverance of Rodari. He is given the task of organizing the Pioneer magazine, intended for children, and becoming its editor. It was on the pages of "Pioniere" in 1951 that the famous fairy tale "The Adventures of Cipollino" appeared. The tale was not so much magical as everyday - in it little men-vegetables and little men-fruits, although they lived in a fantasy state, but their life was very similar to real life poor Italians.

Rodari himself believed that he was deprived of his talent as a publisher, but he edited the new magazine for three whole years, after which he was transferred to the youth magazine of the Italian Communist Party Avangard. After some time, he left this position and became an employee of the massive left-wing newspaper Paese Sera. Practically every day on the pages of this newspaper satires by Rodari appeared, which made it even more popular. However, Rodari never again occupied the chair of the chief.

In 1952, Rodari was first invited to the Soviet Union. Here he communicated with children's writers and poets, and as early as the following year, translated versions of the poems of the Italian storyteller and his famous "Cipollino" appeared in the Soviet press. Translations were made by Samuil Marshak. Simultaneously with the release of The Adventures of Cipollino in the Soviet Union, Gianni Rodari married Maria Teresa Feretti. The daughter Paola was born to the Rodari four years later, in 1957. In the same year, another important event happened in Rodari's life - he takes the exam and receives the title of a professional journalist.

When Paolina's father first took her to the Soviet Union with him, she asked to see the toy stores for her. Imagine Rodari's surprise when he saw in the windows of the "Children's World" the characters of his own fairy tales - Cipollino, Prince Lemon, Signor Tomato and others. For the writer, such a spectacle was more valuable than any triumph - the heroes of his fairy tale became real toys!

Gianni Rodari wrote many more fairy tales, including Gelsomino in the Land of Liars, The Adventures of the Blue Arrow, Cake in the Sky, Tales on the Phone, but he considered himself not a writer, but a journalist. Yes, and in his native Italy for a very long time his popularity remained extremely low, and we can say that the world learned about the wonderful storyteller through another country - the Soviet Union. Only in 1967, Gianni Rodari was declared the best writer in his homeland, but this happened after his book "Cake in the Sky" was awarded a pan-European award and a gold medal. Rodari's writings began to be included in the school curriculum, as well as to shoot animated and feature films based on them.

For adults, he wrote a single book, A Grammar of Fantasy, subtitled An Introduction to the Art of Storytelling. As the author himself joked, this book was read “by mistake” by many children, and it ceased to belong to adults. Although Rodari composed it only to teach parents to invent magical stories for their children.

The triumph of Gianni Rodari took place in 1970, when for all his works he was awarded the International Gold Medal named after Hans Christian Andersen - the highest award in the field of literature for children.

The great Italian storyteller Gianni Rodari died of a serious illness on April 14, 1980, in Rome. For many, this death came as a surprise - after all, he was not even sixty years old. From all over the world, his wife and daughter received thousands of telegrams of condolences.

If you believe the words of the ancient Greek sage that people live in the books written by them, then Gianni Rodari will live forever - in his beautiful heroes and in the hearts of the children who loved them.

Gianni Rodari (Italian Gianni Rodari), full name - Giovanni Francesco Rodari (Italian Giovanni Francesco Rodari). Born October 23, 1920 in Omegna, Italy - died April 14, 1980 in Rome. Famous Italian children's writer and journalist.

Gianni Rodari was born on October 23, 1920 in the small town of Omegna (Northern Italy). His father Giuseppe, a baker by profession, died when Gianni was only ten years old. Gianni and his two brothers, Cesare and Mario, grew up in their mother's native village, Varesotto. Sickly and weak since childhood, the boy was fond of music (he took violin lessons) and books (he read Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky).

After three years of study at the seminary, Rodari received a teaching diploma and, at the age of 17, began teaching in the elementary grades of local rural schools. In 1939, for some time he attended the philological faculty of the Catholic University in Milan.

During World War II, Rodari was released from service due to poor health. After the death of two close friends and the imprisonment of his brother Cesare in a concentration camp, he became a member of the Resistance Movement and in 1944 joined the Italian Communist Party.

In 1948, Rodari became a journalist for the Communist newspaper L'Unita and began writing books for children. In 1950, the party appointed him editor of a newly created weekly children's magazine, Il Pioniere, in Rome. In 1951, Rodari published the first collection of poems - "The Book of Jolly Poems", as well as his most famous work "The Adventures of Chipollino" (Russian translation by Zlata Potapova, edited by Samuil Marshak, was published in 1953). This work gained especially wide popularity in the USSR, where a cartoon was made based on it in 1961, and then a fairy tale film "Cipollino" in 1973, where Gianni Rodari starred in the role of himself.

In 1952 he went to the USSR for the first time, where he later visited several times. In 1953 he married Maria Teresa Ferretti, who four years later gave birth to his daughter, Paola. In 1957, Rodari passed the exam for the title of professional journalist, and in 1966-1969 he did not publish books and only worked on projects with children.

In 1970, the writer received the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Prize, which helped him gain worldwide fame.

He also wrote poems that have come down to the Russian reader in the translations of Samuil Marshak (for example, “What do crafts smell like?”) And Yakov Akim (for example, “Giovannino Lose”). A large number of translations of books into Russian were made by Irina Konstantinova.