Edmondo De Amicis

Edmondo De Amicis (1846–1908) was an Italian novelist, journalist and travel writer. Born in Oneglia in Liguria, he trained at the military academy and fought at Custoza in 1866, and his first success, Military Life, drew on army experience. He then traveled for newspapers and wrote popular books on Spain, Holland, Morocco and Constantinople. Cuore (1886), the diary of a schoolboy in Turin, became one of the most widely read Italian books for children and helped shape the ideals of the young nation. In later years he became a socialist, and On Blue Water described the voyage of Italian emigrants to South America.