Carlo Collodi (pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini) was born in Florence in 1826. He was deeply committed to the political objectives of the Risorgimento: the self-government and unification of Italy, and sympathized with the democratizing reforms accompanying it. Professionally a civil servant, he devoted his most enthusiastic energies to his prolific writing as a freelance journalist and satirical critic of the social and political scene. Also the author of novels and plays, at almost 50 he was commissioned to translate Perrault's fairy tales into Italian. A further commission produced a modern version of a children's classic: Giannettino was an entertaining story which successfully disguised its didactic purpose; it was followed, until the end of Collodi's life, by a series of sequels. The Adventures of Pinocchio was originally serialized in a children's newspaper, with resounding success, and was published as a book in 1883. Collodi died in 1890.