200th Birthday of Carlo Collodi – Pinocchio

Pinocchio dancing — the hero of Carlo Collodi's masterpiece "Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet". In the right panel, Pinocchio's shadow stares in amazement at the talking cricket perched on his ever-lengthening nose, which grows after each lie he tells. Along the upper edge, the commemorative inscription "CARLO COLLODI" and the years "1826" and "2026". To the left, the "R" of the Rome Mint; to the right, the Italian Republic abbreviation "RI". The name "PINOCCHIO" runs along the lower edge, with the coin designer Marta Bonifacio's initials "MB" at lower right.

In early 19th-century Florence, more precisely in the Porta al Prato district, Carlo Lorenzini was born on 24 November 1826, the son of a cook and a weaver. The surname Collodi, under which he would become world-famous, he borrowed from the Tuscan village where his mother had grown up. Lorenzini first worked as a journalist and political commentator, took part in the wars of unification of the Risorgimento, and founded satirical magazines. His major literary work came comparatively late: the story of the wooden boy Pinocchio first appeared in 1881 as a serialized tale in a Roman children's magazine and was published as a book in 1883. With Pinocchio, Collodi created one of the most enduring figures in world literature — a story of curiosity, disobedience, remorse, and moral growth that reached far beyond its originally educational intent.

The book, Le avventure di Pinocchio, has been translated into more than 260 languages and is one of the most widely distributed children's books ever written. In Italy, Pinocchio holds the status of national cultural heritage: the small hill town of Collodi in Tuscany, after which the author took his pen name, houses a park dedicated to him, and the wooden rascal with the growing nose is regarded as an unofficial symbol of Tuscan storytelling tradition. The character of Pinocchio has influenced 20th- and 21st-century pop culture many times over — from Disney's 1940 animated film to Guillermo del Toro's stop-motion retelling of 2022. On the occasion of the 200th birthday of Carlo Collodi, Italy honors in 2026 this literary cosmopolitan from Florence, whose work is still part of every childhood.