Dante Quinterno

Dante Quinterno (Buenos Aires, October 26, 1909-ibidem, May 14, 2003) was an Argentine comic book writer and cartoonist, publishing entrepreneur and agricultural producer, famous for the creation of the characters Patoruzú, Isidoro Cañones, Patoruzito, Don Fierro and Pepín Cascarón. He was also the producer and director of the first color cartoon in Argentina "Upa en Apuros" in 1942.

Early Years

Dante Raúl Quinterno was the son of Martín Quinterno and Laura Raffo. His paternal grandfather, Pedro Quinterno, came from Piedmont, Italy (in Argentina he was engaged in agricultural production and the cultivation and marketing of fruit trees).

Career

In 1924 he began to send his drawings to various Buenos Aires newspapers and in 1925 he published his first strip, Panitruco, in El Suplemento. Later came Andanzas y misadventuras de Manolo Quaranta (1926); Don Fermín (later called Don Fierro, 1926), and An Optimistic Porteño (later The Adventures of Don Gil Contento, 1927), for different newspapers. In the last series mentioned, in 1928, he unveiled his character Curugua-Curuguagüigua, who was later renamed Patoruzú . Along with Patoruzú, characters such as Isidoro Cañones appeared, who would later also have his own independent publication.

In 1936, the magazine Patoruzú appeared as an independent publication, which at its best would sell 300,000 copies a week. That same year, the author founded Editorial Dante Quinterno S.A., where successful publications began: Patoruzú (since 1936); Patoruzito (since 1945), in which Eduardo Ferro, José Luis Salinas and Alberto Breccia collaborated, among other figures; Andanzas de Patoruzú (since 1956); Patoruzito raids (since 1958); Pepín Cascarón (since 1960); Isidoro's Follies (since 1968); Patoruzito Escolar (since 1971); and the well-remembered "Golden Books of Patoruzú" (annual).

Quinterno also founded, through his Editorial, the magazine "Dinámica Rural", one of the most important and successful publications of the agricultural-livestock industry for the Argentine market.

During the 1930s Quinterno traveled to the United States to study cartoon production (with brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, creators of Betty Boop and Popeye). There he also made contact with Walt Disney in his studios, where they would establish a friendship that would continue through the years. When he returned to Argentina, Quinterno also began his career as an animator, and on November 20, 1942, he premiered at the Ambassador cinema the extraordinary 15-minute short film Upa in distress, which was the first cartoon animated made in colors in Argentina and the region, also receiving numerous recognitions from the association of cinematographic chroniclers of Argentina and other entities. The project was born as a feature film, but the lack of virgin color material caused by World War II limited the final footage. Between 1941 and 1948 the strip of the character Patoruzú was published uninterruptedly in English in the newspaper "PM" of New York (United States), and in 1946 the publication of the magazine titled "The Adventures of Patoruzú" also came out. He would return to the country in 1951, where he would remain until 1955, and since then he would only travel to the country sporadically.

As an editor, Quinterno was also one of the founders of the Argentine Association of Magazine Editors.

Throughout his life he was awarded by the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, the Association of Cinematographic Chroniclers of Argentina, the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires, and the Argentine Association of Magazine Editors.

Starting in the 90s, he distanced himself from the world of comics, dedicated to other business activities, but continuing uninterruptedly with the publication of his comics and characters through his publisher and licensee, Editorial Universo S.A. and Los Tehuelches S.A.

On November 5, 2018, the National Senate awarded the Senator Domingo F. Sarmiento honorable mention to Dante R. Quinterno (post mortem award) for his artistic career and contribution to national culture.

Personal life

Dante Quinterno married Rosa Schiaffino in 1938, with whom he had three children: Dante, Walter and Monica.

He died in Buenos Aires on May 14, 2003, at the age of 93, and was buried in La Recoleta Cemetery.

Legacy

In 2009, the Buenos Aires Museum of Drawing and Illustration organized two exhibitions: "Patoruzú: a magazine, an era", at the Eduardo Sívori Museum of Plastic Arts, and "Patoruzú Magazine, a cultural hinge", at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, where homage was paid to the great creations of Dante Quinterno. These samples were adapted to be carried out on an itinerant basis throughout the country.