Vita gazette – Cartoonist and journalist Sergio Staino, Bobo’s alter ego, dies at 83. His pencil, which described Italy with satire and political commitment, will be missed by many.

Sergio Staino passed away at the age of 83 after a long illness. Blind for some time due to a degeneration of the retina that began to affect him at just 37 years old, he fought this disability for years without ever giving up, always continuing to draw, first by hand and then aided by technology.

“I always think about drawing a lot, and so I realised that my right hand moved on its own and drew what was in my head” is his trick. Toscano from Piancastagnaio, for decades a cartoonist for l’Unità, of which he was also director, for l’Espresso and many other newspapers and television programs, was, above all, the father of Bobo, his alter ego and that of an entire left-wing population.

The Marxist-Leninist with glasses over a big nose, half Umberto Eco and half a mirror of himself, has introduced self-satire into the party, the communist world and the left-wing electorate.