Marc'Aurelio was an Italian satirical magazine, published between 1931 and 1958, and briefly resurrected in 1973.

Marc'Aurelio
CategoriesSatirical magazine
FrequencyWeekly
FounderOberdan Catone
Vito De Bellis
Founded1931
Final issue1958
CountryItaly
Based inRome
LanguageItalian

History and profile

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The weekly magazine was founded in Rome by Oberdan Catone and Vito De Bellis in 1931. It was the first satirical magazine to be started in Italy following the forced closure of other satirical magazines by the Fascist regime, particularly Il Becco Giallo, of which it inheredit many collaborators.[1] It immediately distinguished itself for its original humour, often abstract and surreal.[2][3] Initially polemic and courageous, after several judicial seizures it gradually ignored political themes and focusing in a humour which was an end in itself, eventually getting a large success and selling over 300,000 copies a week.[3][4]

 
A newsstand photographed in Bologna in the late 1930s by Eva Braun while visiting Italy: on the bottom right there is the Marc'Aurelio.

In 1952 it was launched a Ligurian edition of the magazine, directed by Enzo La Rosa. In 1954 the magazine became fortnightly, and shortly later monthly.[3]

In 1955 Marc'Aurelio was acquired by the publisher Corrado Tedeschi who moved the editorial staff in Florence, and the magazine reprised its weekly basis. It eventually ceased its publications in 1958.[5][6]

Many young collaborators of the magazine including Federico Fellini, Steno, Vittorio Metz, Ettore Scola, Cesare Zavattini, Age & Scarpelli, Ruggero Maccari, after the World War II started successful careers in the Italian film industry.[5][7]

In 1973 Delfina Metz (the daughter of Vittorio), with the artistic supervision of Enrico De Seta, shortly relaunched the magazine, which definitively closed the same year after 26 issues.[3][5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gian Franco Venè. La Satira politica. SugarCo, 1976. p. 19.
  2. ^ Natasha V. Chang (January 2015). The Crisis-Woman: Body Politics and the Modern Woman in Fascist Italy. University of Toronto Press, 2015. p. 73. ISBN 978-1442649675.
  3. ^ a b c d Gianni Bono. "Marc'Aurelio". Guida al fumetto italiano. Epierre, 2003. pp. 1251–2.
  4. ^ Michele Serra. Questo strano secolo: vita privata degli Italiani dal 1901 al 1960. Rizzoli, 1960. p. 164.
  5. ^ a b c Massimo Ferrari (2014-07-04). Gioco e fuorigioco: le grandi svolte nella storia del giornalismo. EDUCatt, 2014. ISBN 978-8867804597.
  6. ^ Maurizio Sessa. La bottega delle nuvole: la storia del fumetto da Nerbini ai disegnatori toscani. Medicea, 1995. p. 166.
  7. ^ Gino Moliterno, ed. (11 September 2002). Encyclopedia of contemporary italian culture. Routledge, 2002. p. 755. ISBN 1134758766.

Further reading

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  • Adolfo Chiesa (ed.). Antologia del “Marc'Aurelio”. 1931-1954. Napoleone, 1974.
  •   Media related to Marc'Aurelio at Wikimedia Commons