On this day in 1890, Carlo Lorenzini, better known by his pen name Carlo Collodi, was born in what is today Florence, Italy. He is best known for his fairy tale
The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Collodi had won fame as early as 1856 with a novel and columns in political newspapers. It wasn't until 1875 that he began writing fairy tales. In 1880 he started writing
Storia di un Burratino (
The Story of a Marionette) - also called
Le awenture di Pinocchio - which was published weekly in the first Italian newspaper for children. The first chapter, published July 1881, was an immediate hit. Two years later in 1883, Collodi's tale was published in book form.
Collodi passed away suddenly ten years later, never knowing the fame and popularity that awaited his little wooden character.
Disney released an animated version in February 1940, and today there is even a
Pinocchio Park in Italy!
Experts and critics site
Pinocchio for its complex web of moral questions. Collodi's work has an anti-authoritarian tone - showing a contrast between wealth and poverty and distaste for the judicial system. Collodi's Pinocchio is more selfish and aggressive than Disney's little wooden boy.
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