Roberto SGRILLI

Roberto Sgrilli, born on October 23, 1897 in Florence and died in 1985, was an Italian artist who worked in the fields of comics, animation and painting.

After studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti, Sgrilli made his debut as an illustrator in 1915, worked with various publishers and contributed to the magazines Mondo Umoristico and Numero. From 1923, he drew comic stories for Il Balilla and introduced the character of Sognino. From 1925 he collaborated with the Corriere dei Piccoli, where he drew the Fanfarino and Formichino stories, introduced in 1934, which were published between 1936 and 1941 and later taken over by Sergio Asteriti in the 1950s. Sgrilli also collaborated on the magazine Il Cartoccino dei Piccoli and illustrated over a hundred children’s books.

In addition to his work in the field of comics, Sgrilli also painted pictures and took part in solo exhibitions in various Italian cities in the 1920s and 1930s.

In the 1940s, Sgrilli also devoted himself to the production of several short animated films, including “Il Barone di Münchhausen” (1941) and “Anacleto e la Faina” (1942), which was screened at the 10th Italian Film Festival.