Life and times

Cesare Civita was born in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to Vittoria Carpi, an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 chanteuse, and Carlo Civita, an Italian Jewish businessman. Raised in Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, he developed an early interest in commerce, and in 1936, was named general manager of the prestigious publishing house, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore is the biggest publishing company in Italy.-History:Founded by the 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori in 1907 to publish the magazine titled Luce!, it soon became an important publisher. Its headquarters are in Milan....

. He and Cesare Zavattini

Cesare Zavattini

Cesare Zavattini was an Italian screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema.-Brief biography:...

 redesigned Pitigrilli

Pitigrilli

Pitigrilli, the pseudonym for Dino Segre, was an Italian writer who made his living as a journalist and novelist.-Early life to adulthood:...

's literary magazine

Literary magazine

A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...

, Grandi Firme, incorporating cover art by Gino Boccasile

Gino Boccasile

Gino Boccasile was an Italian illustrator.Born in Bari, Boccasile was the son of a perfumer. Early in his youth he lost his left eye, when a drop of quicklime fell into it while he drank from a fountain...

 and giving the magazine its highest circulation. Civita also obtained an exclusive license to publish Walt Disney

Walt Disney

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

's comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

s in Italy and ventured into cinema, producing a documentary

Documentary

A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

 that earned an award at the Venice Film Festival

Venice Film Festival

The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...

.

The enactment of the 1938 Race Laws by the Fascist

Italian Fascism

Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...

 regime forced Civita to emigrate, and he arrived in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 with his wife, Mina, and their three children. He became a talent agent

Talent agent

A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...

 for illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

s and among other, represented Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg was a Romanian-born American cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his work for The New Yorker.-Biography:...

, for whom Civita sold portfolios to Harper's Bazaar

Harper's Bazaar

Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...

and Life Magazine by way of securing the Jewish artist a United States visa. Civita relocated to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 in 1941, and became Disney's representative in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, by which he established the Editorial Abril publishing house. Disney traveled to Argentina while preparing his upcoming animated film, Bambi

Bambi

Bambi is a 1942 American animated film directed by David Hand , produced by Walt Disney and based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten...

, and modeled its forest backdrop after Los Arrayanes National Park

Los Arrayanes National Park

Los Arrayanes National Park is a national park of Argentina with an area of 17.53 square kilometres. It covers the Quetrihué Peninsula on the shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake in the province of Neuquén, 3 km from Villa la Angostura....

.

Civita diversified Editorial Abril after 1945, hiring a number of talented illustrators and cartoonists from both Argentina and Italy, among them Hugo Pratt

Hugo Pratt

Hugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...

, Mario Faustinelli

Mario Faustinelli

Mario Faustinelli was an Italian comic book artist and editor.Faustinelli was born in Venice in 1924. After the end of World War II, Faustinelli, along with artists Hugo Pratt, Ivo Pavone, and Dino Battaglia, moved to Argentina in search of work; they became known as the "Venice Group." In 1945...

, Alberto Ongaro, Ivo Pavone, Héctor Oesterheld, Alberto Breccia

Alberto Breccia

Alberto Breccia was an Uruguay-born Argentine comics artist and writer.-Biography:Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Breccia moved with his parents to Buenos Aires, Argentina when he was three years old...

, Dino Battaglia

Dino Battaglia

Dino Battaglia was an Italian comic artist, noted for a distinctive and expressive style, best known for his visual adaptations of classic novels.-Biography:...

, and Paul Campani. His younger brother, Victor Civita

Victor Civita

Victor Civita was an American businessman, journalist and naturalized Brazilian...

, established a counterpart in São Paolo, Editora Abril

Editora Abril

Editora Abril is a major Brazilian publisher and printing company and one of the biggest media holdings in Southern America. The company was founded in 1950 by Victor Civita in São Paulo and is now part of Grupo Abril....

, in 1949, which became one of the largest publishing houses (Grupo Abril

Grupo Abril

Grupo Abril is the second largest Brazilian media conglomerate with its headquarter in São Paulo. The group is the holding company of Editora Abril, who publishes the weekly newsmagazine Veja....

) in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

Though smaller than its Brazilian counterpart, Editorial Abril published nine magazines by the 1960s, including Parabrisas (for auto enthusiasts), Corsa (auto sports), Claudia (a women's magazine), Adán (for men), Panorama (general interest), and Siete Dias Ilustrados (news), as well as the French comic series, Asterix

Asterix

Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...

, and others. Some of the most celebrated figures in Argentine journalism worked for Abril at the time, including illustrator Hugo Pratt

Hugo Pratt

Hugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...

, photographer Grete Stern

Grete Stern

Grete Stern was an German photographer. Along with her husband, she presented the first exhibition of modern photographic art in Buenos Aires in 1935.-Biography:...

, sociologist Gino Germani, writers Rodolfo Walsh

Rodolfo Walsh

Rodolfo Jorge Walsh was an Argentine writer, considered the founder of investigative journalism. He is most famous for his Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta which he wrote the day before his murder, protesting that their economic policies were having an even greater effect on...

, Francisco Urondo

Francisco Urondo

Francisco "Paco" Urondo, was an Argentine writer, and member of the Montoneros guerrilla organization....

 and Juan Gelman

Juan Gelman

Juan Gelman is an Argentine poet. He has published more than twenty books of poetry since 1956. He won the Cervantes Prize in 2007, the most important in Spanish literature...

, and poet Miguel Ángel Bustos. Civita was joined in the enterprise by numerous family members, including his wife, Mina (who edited Claudia), and their daughter Adriana, who became the company's chief correspondent during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. Civita and his wife were separated, however, and he married Paulina, his secretary.

Civita purchased stock in the newly-established public-private

Public-private partnership

Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...

 newsprint

Newsprint

Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper most commonly used to print newspapers, and other publications and advertising material. It usually has an off-white cast and distinctive feel. It is designed for use in printing presses that employ a long web of paper rather than individual sheets of...

 manufacturer, Papel Prensa

Papel Prensa

Papel Prensa is the largest Argentine manufacturer of newsprint, furnishing 75% of the local market in the staple. The public–private partnership became the focus of one of a series of controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism in 2010.-Establishment:Papel Prensa originated in the establishment...

, in 1972, and he and Editorial Abril became its principal private stockholders. Regulations restricting imported machinery imposed by the new Economy Minister, José Ber Gelbard

José Ber Gelbard

José Ber Gelbard was an Argentine activist and politician.-Career:Gelbard was born in Radomsko, Poland, in 1917. In 1930 Gelbard emigrated to Argentina with his parents and siblings. They settled in Tucumán, north of Buenos Aires. Those were tough times and Gelbard had to make a living as a...

, forced Civita to sell his stake to financier David Graiver

David Graiver

David Graiver was an Argentine businessman and banker whose business interests would become the focus of investigations and intrigue during his short life, as well as since his death.-Early life and career:...

 in December 1973, however. Civita, who never enjoyed good relations with Peronism

Peronism

Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...

 (which had been returned to power following elections in 1973

Argentine general election, March 1973

The first Argentine general election of 1973 was held on 11 March. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 85.5%, it produced the following results:-President:...

), came under pressure partly because of the numerous left-wing writers he employed. Pressed on the subeject, he asserted that the Abril publishing house is not against anyone, except Nazis and Fascists.

This outlook cost Civita the enmity of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, however, and he was the target of numerous death threats, a kidnapping attempt, and in 1975, a commando attack whereby his 18th story Belgrano

Belgrano, Buenos Aires

Belgrano is a leafy, northern barrio or neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Location :The barrio of Palermo is to the southeast; Nuñez is to the northwest; Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Ortúzar and Colegiales are to the southwest....

 apartment was riddled with machine gun fire from a helicopter. he and his family joined his brother Victor in São Paolo.

Though the publishing house's best-selling tile, Panorama, closed in December 1975, Editorial Abril remained in operation, and was sold in 1982 to a partnership between Celulosa Argentina and Rizzoli Editores. Civita lived in Brazil and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

for a number of years, and ultimately returned. He died in Buenos Aires in 2005, at age 99.