Elisabetta Dami (born 1958) is an Italian children's author, best known as the creator of the Geronimo Stilton series. Her name is tied to one of the most visible publishing phenomena in children's literature of recent decades.
Dami grew up around books. She began working in the family publishing business, Dami Editore, founded in 1972 by her father, the publisher Piero Dami, first as a proofreader and later writing short stories of her own. After volunteering at a children's hospital, she came up with the idea of adventure stories starring a clumsy, funny mouse. The books mix humour with values such as friendship, peace and respect for nature. The series has been translated into 49 languages and has sold more than 180 million copies worldwide. Dami signs her books with her character's name rather than her own.
Beyond writing, she founded the Elisabetta Dami Onlus in 2016 to support non-governmental organisations and associations. She sits on the national board of WWF Italy and is an ambassador for Antoniano Onlus. Her legacy lies largely in the way she combines adventure, comedy and civic messages in children's books, and in the international reach of a character who has reached millions of young readers.
Key works
- Geronimo Stilton (adventure series starring a mouse, launched in Italy; more than 180 million copies sold worldwide)
- Early short stories (her first written pieces, from around the age of nineteen or twenty; sources do not give titles)
Curiosities
A mouse named after cheese
In an interview she explained that she chose the surname of her protagonist after Stilton, an English cheese still made using 18th-century techniques.
Signing with her character's name
Although the books are hers, Dami signs them with the name of Geronimo Stilton rather than her own.
Marathon runner
She ran the New York Marathon three times, in 2002, 2003 and 2017, and also took part in a 100-km ultramarathon across the Sahara.
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.