The Giussani Sisters and the Birth of Diabolik

Angela (1922-1987) and Luciana Giussani (1928-2001), daughters of textile entrepreneur Enrico Giussani and Vittoria Perachini, grew up in Milan's upper bourgeoisie. Angela, rebellious and enterprising, drove cars, earned a pilot's license, and worked as a model and journalist. In 1949 she married publisher Gino Sansoni, founder of Astoria, and later used her severance to found Astorina, a comics publisher based in the service area of their large apartment at via Leopardi 25. After the boxing comic Big Ben Bolt failed, Angela recalled finding a Fantomas novel on a train and created Diabolik, inspired by a 1958 murder in Turin where the killer was called Diabolich. The first issue debuted on November 1, 1962, achieving immediate success. Angela enlisted her sister Luciana, a German-language graduate who worked at a vacuum cleaner factory, to co-write the adventures. After Angela's death in 1987, Luciana ran Astorina with director Mario Gomboli until her death in 2001. The character's legacy continues: the Manetti Bros directed a Diabolik film in 2020, and Davide Barzi wrote a biography Le regine del terrore in 2019.