Collodi, Carlo

Collodi, Carlo (kär`lō kōl-lô`dē), pseud. of Carlo Lorenzini (lōrāntsē`nē), 1826–90, Italian author. A prolific journalist, he also wrote didactic tales for children, the most famous of which is Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet. First written (1880) for the Giornale dei bambini, the story appeared in book form in 1883 and soon became one of the most widely read juvenile classics. Collodi, however, received little for it. The first English translation (1892) was followed by others in innumerable editions; perhaps the best is that by M. M. Sweet (1927). An animated film version (1940) of Pinocchio was made by Walt Disney.

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Collodi, Carlo 

(pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini). Born Nov. 24, 1826, in Florence; died there Oct. 26, 1890. Italian writer.

Collodi participated in the national liberation movement, particularly the Revolution of 1848. He wrote stories, journalistic sketches, and comic scenes, which are collected in Sketches (1880), Eyes and Noses (1881), and Merry Stories (1887).

The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Story of a Marionette (1880; Russian translations, 1908, 1924, and 1959), his children’s tale, became world famous. The story interweaves motifs from Italian folk tales and real life. It is about a puppet come to life, a mischievous and lazy boy, who by the story’s end begins to work and turns into a real person. It is a humorous tale with a democratic spirit. A. Tolstoy based The Golden Key (1936) on The Adventures of Pinocchio.

WORKS

Giannettino. Florence, 1876.
Note gaie. Florence, 1892.

REFERENCES

Desideri, S. Collodi. Rome-Genoa, 1948.
Bertacchini, R. Collodi narratore. Pisa, 1961.