Elisabetta Dami (Milan, 1958) already wore the adventurous sign long before her popular character appeared on the scene. Pilot and skydiver at the age of 20, the Italian writer and creator of Gerónimo Stilton recounts many feats to her credit: a trip around the world at the age of 23, three times the New York Marathon (the last in 2017), a rally for the Sahara desert and a survival course at Maine's Outward Bound School, among other feats.
But the greatest adventure of his life is the one that he has created around this endearing mouse, also director of the newspaper El eco del rodentor and protagonist of his books. A character whose adventures and values have collapsed year after year the barriers of suspicion from booksellers, educators and picky parents. An unstoppable publishing phenomenon that has already been translated into 52 languages and has sold an astronomical number of 180 million copies.
Gerónimo celebrates its 20th anniversary since its publication in Spain and few times its author lends herself to be interviewed. On this occasion, she has exceptionally opened the doors of her charming house in Milan. Her hospitality is overwhelming, and her cook's spaghetti is spectacular.
The writer says that she has always voluntarily given all the prominence to Gerónimo, including the signature on all the covers of the series. "The message is much more important than the person who writes it and I have never aspired to be famous or to see my name written on the cover," she says from her home in Milan, where the old red typewriter her father gave her to the 7 years has a prominent place.
It is because of this premeditated decision that for many years there was speculation about the name of who was really behind Stilton. Today we know that there is a woman of arms to take, animalist, supportive, respectful, a little shy and full of good intentions. "Gerónimo and I are very similar, although I feel much more identified with the Tea dynamic. But with him we have two great passions in common: books and travel. Gerónimo loves children, he is an intellectual, but at the same time he's funny, a bit clumsy, shy and sensitive. He's brave and comes to the aid of his friends when they're in trouble and, above all, he knows how to team up, because together everything is much more fun and effective."
Gentleness, respect and adventure are the maxims that in a certain way govern his life and that of his protagonist; hence, many have criticized her as "good-natured". "Children need confidence and hope in a better world and to tell them that they should not be afraid to get involved in things, because everything is possible if it is done with the heart."
Daughter of the publisher Piero Dami, books have run through her veins since she was little. Many classics, but above all Little Women, by Alcott, in which she was fascinated by the character of Jo. But curiously, Stilton's story began within the walls of a pediatric hospital. "In the early 1990s, I found out I couldn't have children and decided to start volunteering in the hospital's pediatric wards. It was the days of Patch Adams, the doctor who dressed up as a clown to give children a smile and That's how I also began to tell the comical and adventurous stories of a shy, tender and clumsy mouse".
Today volunteering continues to be a fundamental part of his life, especially those that refer to environmental protection, but now with much more ambitious projects, such as the one he is carrying out in the Central African Republic, where he has created a trade school for which 2,000 students have already passed.
Stilton has stories for a long time. The team that has masterfully brought Gerónimo to theater stages in a musical format will be in charge of this and will soon take him to the cinema at the hands of David Soren, the director of Captain Underpants. But always with the indelible mark that Dami has printed on his novels: "Universal ethical values are what I hope will help children grow better."
