Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot": "Beauty will save the world".In our world of deafening publicity, the writer's attitude is quite shocking. Elisabetta Damiborn in Milan in 1958. Dami is shy and sensitive, like her character, Geronimo Stilton. She appears little in public; unlike her books, which are known almost all over the world. The first was published in 2000 and since then the Geronimo and Tea Stilton books have sold more than 180 million copies and have been translated into 49 languages. It is a true publishing empire with beautifully illustrated books that captivate many children between the ages of 6 and 12.
There have also been musical adaptations and a television series starring this mouse journalist, director of "The Rodent Echo", the most widely distributed newspaper in Ratonia.
The birth of the character
Elisabetta worked for twenty years at the publishing house founded in 1972 by her father Piero Dami. There she became familiar with children's and young people's literature. However, behind the cute mouse and her simple stories with a happy ending, she hid a deep sorrow that, in her own words, she transformed into love. The author discovered with sorrow that she could not have children, and decided to volunteer in a hospital with sick children. It was there that the stories of Geronimo and his sister Tea were born: "Geronimo and his sister Tea".I started writing stories for them and I realized that if they were happy, they would recover faster.". Her stories inspire and help many children around the world to grow in values; for the author, these children are the children she has not been able to have.
However, Dami appears in the credits of the books only as the inspiration for the idea, and it is Geronimo and Tea themselves who are listed as the authors. And this also has a cute and clever theory behind it, as many children write to Geronimo asking him how to go to Mouse Island and being interested in the life of their hero.
For them, Geronimo or Tea are the ones who write the books: she does not take them out of their sleep, because she believes that children's dreams are a treasure and that hope is a powerful medicine. In this sense, Elisabetta Dami said in 2017 that she loved Pope Francis very much and that she agreed with him that we must not stop dreaming.
Who is the inspiration?
Now comes the question: if Dami inspires the stories of the mice, who inspires her? It is partly an autobiographical experience: she writes what she would have liked to read when she was seven years old. In addition, the author, like her characters, loves to travel and meet different people. In fact, she considers diversity a very great value, along with that of cooperation. "Cooperation is the secret of Geronimo Stilton's success."explained the author in her speech at the Fòrum Impulsa in Girona in 2012.
Dami is an adventurer: she has run a 100 kilometer marathon in the Sahara, she did the Road to SantiagoHe has a pilot's license, has parachuted and climbed Kilimanjaro; he practices kayaking, loves nature and archeology and, for the last few years, has been playing the piano. For writing, he likes to be in contact with nature and takes refuge in his country house. She says she has horses, but she does not ride them because that would make them work and what she wants is for them to be happy in the meadow.
Secrets of success
When asked about the reason for the success of her work, the author reveals some secrets: the first is that she writes from the heart and that is why she manages to reach the hearts of so many readers. In addition, she enjoys writing very much. She explained in an interview: "When I write I am happy; when I write my heart sings". On the other hand, he points out the importance of the support received from distributors, booksellers and designers: all of them are an important part of the project's success.
From a content point of view, children can easily understand the characters: Geronimo is not only a very nice rodent, he also experiences emotions that children can identify with, learning from the character how to manage them; he is a clumsy and clueless mouse, closer to the antihero than to the hero, and that makes him endearing.
Universal values
In addition to writing from the heart, for Elisabetta Dami another key is that her books offer positive and universal values for children, these values are: peace, family, friendship, respect for nature, honesty, loyalty, courage, ... And, above all, collaboration in the face of the dominant individualism. Geronimo Stilton is an example of cooperation for children, and this form of participation is the key to the future, says Dami. For her, the most important thing is not fame or commercial success, but making children happy and having fun cooperating together.
This reference to values is not gratuitous, she herself collaborates with numerous NGOs for the protection of nature and the development and labor insertion of vulnerable groups. Among them, the association Il GranelloThe Catholic-inspired organization, which works for the training and labor insertion of people with physical or mental disabilities.
In conclusion, we can say that the cute mouse Geronimo faithfully reflects the values that his author lives. Stilton is partly herself and it is the way in which she shows her essence to the world, with the same care with which, on the other hand, she hides her personal life. She gives us the best, which are her values, and protects her intimacy as what it is, something private.
