“The Last Partisan”, graphic novel by Giovannini-Eppesteingher

Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at 4 pm in the main hall of the F. Cecioni high school, the presentation of the graphic novel “The Last Partisan” (publisher Paesi Edizioni) written by Eva Giovannini and illustrated by Tommaso Eppesteingher will take place (click on the white clip on a blue background above the title to view an excerpt of the graphic novel).
The meeting, attended by the two authors, is open to the entire community and will be an opportunity to learn firsthand from the protagonists about the genesis of the work, the writing and drawing processes that accompanied it and to address the themes of freedom and civil commitment that animate it.

Synopsis – Can one die on the very day that what one has lived for is achieved? Yes, one can. It happened to Lanciotto Gherardi, a Livornese partisan of the 3rd Brigata Garibaldi, a member of the PCI with an anarchist soul, a militant antifascist and fighter for Freedom: he died on July 19, 1944, the same morning Livorno was liberated by the Nazi-fascists, hit at the city gates by some machine gun shots to the abdomen and, moreover, by friendly fire. He died a few kilometers before the entrance of the partisan militias into the city, in an ambush near Quercianella. He was 42 years old, he left an 18-year-old son, Alfredo, and a beloved wife, Bruna. In Livorno, the PCI section on Via Garibaldi was dedicated to him and a street near Villa Fabbricotti was named after him.

Reconstructing the story in a full-color graphic novel is the Rai journalist and Livornese writer Eva Giovannini, who summarizes some key episodes in the life of Lanciotto Gherardi, accompanied by the unmistakable style of Tommaso Eppesteingher, who illustrates, and by the historical analysis and direct memory of Corrado Augias, intellectual and direct witness of the Liberation, who gave an exclusive interview.

The Two Authors

Eva Giovannini – Rai correspondent and anchor, currently at Rainews24. Author of the podcasts Eva’s Choice (2024) and AstroPolitica (2022), for RaiplaySound. Co-hosted for Rai Petrolio, Popolo Sovrano and two editions of the Strega Prize. Author of the essay on European right-wings Europa Anno Zero – The Return of Nationalisms (Marsilio) and of the graphic novel Oriana Fallaci: Vietnam, America and the Year that Changed History (Round Robin). Winner of the Altiero Spinelli Journalistic Prize for European Studies (2020). Member of the ‘Essays’ Commission on Europe established by the presidency of the Chamber (2017). She graduated from the F. Cecioni high school.

Tommaso Eppesteingher – Cartoonist, illustrator, and drawing and art history teacher at the F. CECIONI high school, tells us about how he lives his projects and his days. Since 1989 he has collaborated with Il Vernacoliere, the monthly Livornese satire magazine. Together with Claudio Marmugi, he has maintained a thirty-year partnership that led in 2012 to collaboration with the Il Tirreno – Livorno newspaper for the realization of the insert La Tracina. He also works on independent projects, ranging from surf music to graphics, and dreams of creating others on cinema.

At the meeting, copies of the graphic novel “The Last Partisan” will be available for those interested. For further information: https://paesiedizioni.it/beatrix/lultimo-partigiano