Carlo Collodi is the pen name of Italian author Carlo Lorenzini, creator of the beloved children’s character, Pinocchio. A Tuscan who fought in Italy’s wars of unification, Collodi was already a famous novelist and popular translator of French fairy tales when he began to contribute chapters in the life of a marionette to Italy’s first newspaper for children, Il Giornale per i Bambini. The adventures of the disobedient puppet were an immediate success and Pinocchio’s story has been translated and adapted numerous times, including the classic 1940 animated production from Walt Disney. Collodi died in 1890.
