Italian satirical cartoonist Giorgio Forattini dies at 94

Giorgio Forattini, the Italian cartoonist known for his biting political satire, died in Milan on November 4, 2025, at age 94. Born in Rome in 1931, he abandoned architecture studies and worked various jobs before turning to cartooning in his late thirties. He began his career at the daily Paese Sera in 1973, where he created memorable vignettes such as one depicting Christian Democrat leader Amintore Fanfani as a champagne cork after the divorce referendum. Forattini gained national prominence in the 1970s as a founding contributor to Eugenio Scalfari's newspaper La Repubblica, where his drawings targeted both left and right—including a controversial image of Francesco Cossiga disguised as a protester with a gun during the 1977 Rome riots, and another of Communist secretary Enrico Berlinguer as a bourgeois annoyed by striking workers. In the 1980s he moved to La Stampa, where his cartoons appeared on the front page. He later worked for Il Giornale (2006–2008), leaving after a cartoon of a naked Silvio Berlusconi angered editor Maurizio Belpietro. His final collaborations were with Il Resto del Carlino, La Nazione, and Il Giorno. Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli called him 'a great artist of genre who dedicated his talent to satire.'