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Giovanni Luigi "Gianni" Brera(8 September 1919 – 19 December 1992) was an Italiansports journalistandnovelist.
Gianni Brera | |
|---|---|
 Brera in 1975 | |
| Born | Giovanni Luigi Brera 8 September 1919 |
| Died | 19 December 1992(aged 73) Codogno,Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
Biography
edit
Brera was born inSan Zenone al Po,nearPavia,the son of Carlo, a tailor, and Marietta Ghisoni. Among his ancestors was a Hungarian great-grandmother who married aLombardsergeant of theImperial Austrian Army.
He obtained his degree inpolitical sciencesatPavia Universityin 1943, while on leave from his post aslieutenantof the185th Infantry Division "Folgore".In late spring 1944 he joined theItalian Resistancemovement and fought in theOssolaValley. He took pride in having lived throughWorld War IIwithout ever shooting another human being.
In 1943, he married Rina Gramegna (a teacher, 1920–2000) and had four sons: Franco (1944–1944), Carlo (a painter, 1946–1994),Paolo(an economist, journalist, multi-lingual translator, and novelist, 1949–2019), Franco (a musician, 1951-).
When he was discharged in 1945, he started working forLa Gazzetta dello Sport(Italy's first sports daily), eventually becomingeditor-in-chiefin 1949, the youngest-ever editor-in-chief of a national newspaper in Italy.
Brera wrote forLa Gazzetta dello Sport,IlGuerin Sportivo,Il Giorno,Il Giornale,La Repubblicaand several other publications. His articles were translated into several European languages. He often referred to himself as "Gioannbrerafucarlo" (a reference to Italy's long-foregone system of including the father's name in a citizen's complete name).
He also wrote a number of books (handbooks, essays and fictional works), a theatre play, and a couple of radio plays.
Brera died halfway betweenCodognoandCasalpusterlengo,in 1992, from injuries suffered in acar accident:a car on the other side of the road crashed into his car, causing his death and of two other passengers.
Legacy
editBrera is viewed one of the most influential Italian sports journalists of the 20th century. In 2003, the monumental Arena Civica (stadium), built inMilanbyNapoleon I of Francein the early 19th century, was renamedArena Gianni Brera.[1]
Brera is widely credited for innovatingItalian language,notably by creating a whole new terms forfootball (soccer),some of which have been adopted by other countries. The wordlibero(sweeper) for the third defender was coined by Brera. Famous nicknames he invented for Italian players includeAbatino( "Little Abbot" ) forGianni RiveraandRombo di tuono( "Rolling Thunder" ) forGigi Riva.He also nicknamedSilvio BerlusconiIl Cavaliere( "The Knight" ) after the businessman was awarded theOrder of Merit for Labour.Furthermore, he coined the monikers "Il Vecchio Balordo" (The Old Fool) and "La Beneamata" (The Well-Cherished One) forGenoaandInternazionalefootball clubs, respectively.
Living and working in Milan, Brera was a supporter ofInternazionale,but he claimed to be a fan ofGenoain order to prevent him from being dragged into the rivalry between Inter,A.C. MilanandJuventus FCand to be freely able to write about those teams without alienating the readerships from their sides. Brera's self-declared fondness for Genoa testified his love for the "heroic age" of Italian football (Genoa was Italy's first club and dominated the football championships until the early 1920s); moreover, after Brera's death the original foundation charter of theGenoa Cricket and Football Clubwas found among his papers, and his family donated it to a Genoese museum.[2]
Apart from the imaginative lexicon, Brera was noteworthy for his rich style and liberal use of foreign or regional phrases. He spoke fluent French and Spanish, a little German and Latin, and some English.
In May 2019, Brera was inducted into theItalian Football Hall of Famefor the 2018 edition, under the categorySpecial Awards.[3]
Bibliography
edit- Atletica leggera. Scienza e poesia dell'orgoglio fisico.Milan, Sperling & Kupfer, 1949.
- Il sesso degli Ercoli.Milan, Rognoni, 1959.
- Io, Coppi.Milan, Vitagliano, 1960.
- Addio bicicletta. Milan, Longanesi, 1964. Other editions: Milan, Rizzoli, 1980; Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1997.
- Atletica leggera. Culto dell'uomo (with G. Calvesi). Milan, Longanesi, 1964.
- I campioni vi insegnano il calcio,Milan, Longanesi, 1965; also: Milan, Booktime, 2008.
- Coppa del mondo 1966. I protagonisti e la loro storia.Milan, Mondadori, 1966.
- Il corpo della ragassa.Milan, Longanesi, 1969. Also: Treviso, Editing, 2006.
- Il mestiere del calciatore.Milan, Mondadori, 1972; also: Milan, Booktime, 2008.
- La pacciada. Mangiarebere in pianura padana(with G. Veronelli). Milan, Mondadori, 1973.
- Po,Milano, Dalmine. 1973.
- Il calcio azzurro ai mondiali.Milan, Campironi, 1974.
- Incontri e invettive.Milan, Longanesi, 1974.
- Introduzione alla vita saggia.Milan, Sigurtà Farmaceutici, 1974.
- Storia critica del calcio italiano.Milan, Bompiani, 1975.
- L'Arcimatto.Milan, Longanesi, 1977.
- Naso bugiardo.Milan, Rizzoli, 1977. Published again with the original title La ballata del pugile suonato. Milan, Booktime, 2008.
- Forza azzurri.Milan, Mondadori, 1978.
- 63 partite da salvare.Milan, Mondadori, 1978.
- Suggerimenti di buon vivere dettati da Francesco Sforza pel figliolo Galeazzo Maria.A Publication of the Municipality of Milan, 1979.
- Una provincia a forma di grappolo d'uva(with Paolo Brera). Milan, Istituto Editoriale Regioni Italiane, 1979.
- Coppi e il diavolo.Milan, Rizzoli, 1981. Also: Milan, Baldini&Castoldi (ISBN88-808-9071-9), 1996
- Gente di risaia.Aosta, Musumeci, 1981.
- Lombardia, amore mio.Lodi, Lodigraf, 1982.
- L'arciBrera.Como, Edizioni "Libri" della rivista "Como", 1990.
- La leggenda dei mondiali.Milan, Pindaro, 1990.
- Il mio vescovo e le animalesse.Milano, Bompiani, 1984. Also: Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1993.
- La strada dei vini in Lombardia(with G. Pifferi and E. Tettamanzi). Como, Pifferi, 1986.
- Genoa, amore mio.Milan, Ponte alle Grazie, 1992.
- Storie dei Lombardi.Milan, BookTime, 2011.
- L'Arcimatto 1960–1966.Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1993.
- La bocca del leone (l'Arcimatto II 1967–1973).Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1995.
- La leggenda dei mondiali e il mestiere del calciatore.Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1994.
- Il principe della zolla(a cura di Gianni Mura). Milan, Il Saggiatore, 1994.
- L'Anticavallo. Sulle strade del Tour e del Giro.Milan, Baldini & Castoldi, 1997.
- Caro vecchio balordo. La storia del Genoa dal 1893 a oggi(Fabrizio Calzia, editor). Genoa, De Ferrari, 2005.
- Un lombardo nel pallone.Milan, Excogita 2007.
- Il più bel gioco del mondo,Milan. BUR (Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli), 2007.
- L'abatino Berruti.Milan, BookTime, 2009.
- Suggerimenti di Francesco Sforza al figlio Gian Galeazzo.Milan, BookTime, 2009.
- Brambilla e la Squaw,with a note byPaolo Brera.Milan, Frassinelli, 2012.
- Introduzione alla vita saggia,prefaced byCarlo Verdone,Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014.
Sources
edit- Gioanfucarlo(biography), by Paolo Brera and Claudio Rinaldi, Milan, Boroli, 2004
- Com'era bello con Gianni Brera,by Andrea Maietti, Arezzo, Limina, 2002
- Gianni Brera,Treccani Encyclopediaarticle, by Claudio Rinaldi
References
edit- ^"In bici sul palco - DelTeatro.it".Archived fromthe originalon 17 October 2007.Retrieved7 August2007.
- ^Gianni Mura (6 September 2019)."Sarrismo, vegani, selfie e Salvini: a cent'anni Brera la penserebbe così".Retrieved8 September2019.
- ^"Totti, Zanetti e Allegri tra i premiati dell'8ª edizione della 'Hall of Fame del calcio italiano'"(in Italian). FIGC.it. 19 February 2019. Archived fromthe originalon 16 January 2021.Retrieved20 May2019.