Angelo Rizzoli

Raised in poverty, and orphaned at a young age, Rizzoli rose to prosperity. He apprenticed in the printer trade, and later became an entrepreneur in his twenties. In 1927, he acquired Novella magazine from the Mondadori, a bi-weekly primarily for women, that reached a circulation of 130,000. After his initial purchase, he added several new publications, including Annabella, Bertoldo, Candido, Omnibus, and Oggi e L'Europeo. Rizzoli started to publish books, including both classics and popular novels IN 1949. In 1954, he purchase Cartiera di Lama di Reno, which became the foundation for what would become an Italian publishing empire. His operations were moved in 1960 to a complex on Via Civitavecchia in Milan.

Rizzoli was active in film, and his production house worked closely with Federico Fellini on the films 8 1/2 or "Otto e Mezzollini") and The Sweet Life (or "La Dolce Vita"). In the 1960s, Rizzoli opened the original Rizzoli International Bookstore in New York, a store on Fifth Avenue, designed by New York City architect Ferdinand Gottlieb. The bookstore was featured in Hollywood films, most notably Woody Allen's film, Manhattan and a Robert DeNiro/Meryl Streep film, Falling in Love. He is also well known as the producer of the Africa-based documentary film Africa Addio.

Rizzoli married Anna Marzorati, with whom he had two children: Angelo and Giuseppina. Rizzoli died at age 81.

References

• Truncellito, M.: "Angelo Rizzoli", Bella (Italian weekly magazine), September 2000.

External links

• Angelo Rizzoli at the Internet Movie Database
• Le Grandi Famiglie: I Rizzoli — Magazine article by Mariateresa Truncellito