Carlo Collodi was the pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini. He was born in Florence, Italy on November 24, 1826. The parents of Lorenzini were poor servants, and he was one of ten children. Only two of his siblings survived to adulthood. When Carlo was a child, he was sent to live with his grandparents in his mother's hometown of Collodi. The employer of his parents, the Marquis Lorenzo Ginori paid for Carlo's education. He spent five years studying the priesthood at Seminary of Val di Elsa (Liukkonen, 2008).
After graduation, Carlo went to work at a bookseller, Libreria Piatti, where he prepared catalogs with Giuseppe Arazzi, who was a specialist for manuscripts in Italy (Zipes, 1999). Italy was in political upheaval at the time, and while working at the bookseller, Carlo began to identify with ideals of the patriots. At the age of 22, he became a journalist.
In 1848, he started a satirical newspaper, Il Lampione. The paper was shut down by the censors a year later(Wunderlich, 2002).
Over his life, Carlo volunteered for military service twice. The first was during the unsuccessful revolt against Austria in 1848. The second time was in 1859, during the Piedmontese War against Austria. (Wunderlich, 2002). He volunteered for the calvary, and that endeavor was successful.
Over time he wrote political commentary, a novel, an opera, music and theater criticisms, contributed to the new Italian dictionary, and some children's books.
The first use of his pseudonym, Carlo Collodi, occurred in 1860. He took the pseudonym from the name of the town where his mother grew up. He used the pseudonym on a booklet, Il Signor Alberi ha ragione! Dialogo apologetico. It was a defense of unified Italy and was written as a response to an disagreement between Carlo and Professor Eugenio Alberi de Pisa (Zipes, 1999). The first book to have the name Carlo Collodi was his translation into Italian of French fairy tales by Charles Perrault in 1875.
In July 1881, Carlo Collodi began his first installment of Storia di un burattino (Story of a Puppet) in Il giornale per i bambini (The Children's Magazine). It was an immediate success, although the Church was afraid that the story would encourage rebellion in children (Liukkonen, 2008). Originally, the story was supposed to end in Chapter 15, with the puppet hanging on a tree, left for dead. There was a public outcry, and demand for Collodi to continue the story. The story ran from 1881-1883. In 1883, Felice Paggi published the story in book form under the name Le avventura di Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio). The original illustrations were done by Eugenio Mazzanti. The first English translation was by Mary Alice Murray in 1891. It was published by T. Fisher Unwin in London, just in time for Christmas. That edition included the Mazzanti sketches borrowed from the 1883 Italian edition(Wunderlich, 2002). In 1940, Walt Disney adapted the story into full length animated feature. This is actually the version of Pinocchio that many people are most familiar with. The book has been translated in over a hundred languages and become a bestseller all over the world.
Carlo Collodi also wrote a series with a character Giannettino, which included several children's textbooks. Although his most famous work is a children's book, Collodi never felt his writing for children was his true calling(Liukkonen, 2008). He never married, and died on October 26, 1890 in Florence. He is buried in Cimitero Monumentale Delle Porte Sante, Firenze, Toscana, Italy. Currently, the National "Carlo Collodi" Foundation, in Italy, promotes education and the works of Carlo Lorenzini. (Merriman, 2006). There is also a Park of Pinocchio in Collodi, which attracts visitors from all over the world.
The Adventures of Pinocchio is the most famous work of Carlo Collodi. It is the story of a puppet, who desires to be a real boy. The beginning of the story begins similarly to other fairy tales: "There was once upon a time...."A king!" my little readers will instantly exclaim. No, children, you are wrong. There was once upon a time a piece of wood.(Collodi, p.3). This is how we are first introduced to Pinocchio. The carpenter Geppetto takes the wood, which is somewhat enchanted (it talks!), and carves a puppet from it. After the puppet is complete, it comes to life and runs off, causing Geppetto the first of his hardships. Throughout the book, Pinocchio is confronted with decisions common to all children. When he lies, his nose grows, and either has to be cut down, or at one point during the stories, woodpeckers peck it down to the right size. He is tempted and must face the consequences of his decisions and actions. He truly desires to be a real boy but must first prove that he can be a good boy. After many adventures, near death experiences, and many disappointments to his "father" Geppetto, Pinocchio finally does the right thing and becomes a real boy. As Geppetto says at the end of the book, "Because when boys who have behaved badly turn over a new leaf and become good, they have the power of bringing content and happiness to their families." This book was intended for children and adults. Some of the behaviors of Pinocchio are extreme and may not appeal to younger children. They probably would care much for the murder of the Talking Cricket, or for Pinocchio being hung from the tree and left for dead. Collodi actually portrayed the child realistically and comically. All Pinocchio is concerned with is what is good for him and what he wants. The results of his actions on others are not important to him, at least not at first. Pinocchio can be used as a cautionary tale for what happens to children when they disobey their parents and are selfish.
Collodi, Carlo.Pinocchio. il., Anne Heyneman Lippencott Co., 1948. 231 pages
(not original which was published in 1883)
Liukkonen, Petri(2008) "Carlo Collodi (1826-1890)" http://kirjasto.sci.fi/collodi.htm
Merriman, C.D(2006) "Carlo Collodi" retrieved from http:// www.online-literature.com/collodi
Wunderlich, Richard and Morrissey, Thomas J. Pinocchio Goes Postmodern. Routledge, 2002. 257 pages
Zipes, Jack. When Dreams Came True. Routledge, 1999. 238 pages
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