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Giorgio Forattini, Defining Voice of Italian Political Satire, Dies at 94

The pioneering political cartoonist redefined Italian satire through front-page daily drawings across major newspapers.

Overview

  • He died in Milan at age 94, with Il Giornale first reporting the news on November 4.
  • Rising from Paese Sera and Panorama in the 1970s, he became a fixture at La Repubblica and later contributed to La Stampa, Il Giornale and QN titles.
  • He popularized front-page, day-to-day political cartoons and was long known as the 're della satira'.
  • His career included high-profile legal clashes, notably a conviction after a Bettino Craxi complaint and a 1999 lawsuit by Massimo D'Alema that was later withdrawn, which preceded his exit from La Repubblica.
  • He is credited with roughly 14,000 cartoons, received honors including Milan’s Ambrogino d’oro, led Il Male in 1979 and co-founded the Satyricon insert, and in 2023 donated his archive to the Triennale di Venezia.