Happy B’day Jacovitti

Benito Jacovitti
Lisca di Pesce, Jac
(9 March 1923 – 3 December 1997, Italy)

Benito Jacovitti is probably the most famous Italian satirical cartoonist, best known for his absurd and humorous series full of grotesque characters and bizarre events, like ‘Cocco Bill’ and ‘Zorry Kid’. He was born Benito Franco Iacovitti in Termoli, in the province of Campobasso, as the son of a railroad worker and a mother of Albanese origins. His father had a fascination for the powerful political figures of the time, hence his son’s first names. Young Benito drew his first comic stories on the stones of the Termoli pavements at the age of 6.

He eventually headed to Florence, where he attended Art School. By 1939, Jacovitti (he artistically exchanged the first letter of his family name for a J) contributed his first cartoons to the satirical weekly Il Brivido. At this time, he also made the sole continuing story of his career for the Turin based publisher La Taurina, titled ‘L’Eroe delle Cinque Giornate’.

ct’d Lambiek