Oreste del Buono: The Forgotten Literary Adventurer Who Revived Bianciardi

Oreste del Buono (1923-2003), a versatile Italian writer and editor, is remembered for elevating comics as literature with the magazine Linus, launching Playboy in Italy, and translating Gide and Maupassant. Born on Elba, he studied in Milan, published his first cartoon in Bertoldo (1939), was imprisoned in Gerlospass during WWII, and later worked for Milano-sera, Oggi, and Epoca. He collaborated with Umberto Eco on 'Il caso Bond' (1965), interviewed footballer Gianni Rivera, and directed Linus from 1965. In the 1990s, he revived forgotten authors like Luciano Bianciardi, Gianni Brera, and Guido Piovene for Baldini & Castoldi. He was named Grande Ufficiale by President Ciampi in 2003 and died later that year.