Beppe Viola

Giuseppe Viola, known as Beppe (Milan, October 26, 1939 - Milan, October 18, 1982), was an Italian journalist, writer, sports commentator and humorist.

Biography

Born and raised in Milan from a family of Sicilian origin, he was a friend of Enzo Jannacci from childhood [2]. In the Milanese city he did most of his work as a sports journalist. He began writing about sports in the mid-fifties, collaborating with the Sportinformazione agency, then moving to Rai in 1961. For television he worked as an editor, as a special correspondent and - after a period as a radio commentator - also as a sports commentator (football , boxing, horse racing, motors). For Rai, among other things, he has signed a long documentary on the Mille Miglia and has participated, sometimes as one of the conductors, in various editions of La Domenica Sportiva and La Domenica Sportiva Estate.

He kept the Vite Vere column on Linus for years and wrote many songs paired with Enzo Jannacci, including Tira a campà and Rido. In the field of cinema, always flanked by Jannacci, he has worked as a screenwriter and dialogue writer (such as in Popular novel, by Mario Monicelli, with Ugo Tognazzi, Ornella Muti and Michele Placido, and in Bad thoughts, by Ugo Tognazzi, with the same Tognazzi and Edwige Fenech, films in which he appears in some cameos, while for the cabaret he contributed to the creation of the texts of the historical group of comedians who referred to the Derby Club of Milan (Massimo Boldi, Teo Teocoli, Giorgio Porcaro, Cochi and Renato, Enzo Jannacci , Felice Andreasi, Gianni Magni, Paolo Villaggio, Lino Toffolo), with several of whom he was linked by fraternal friendship.

On the evening of Sunday, October 17, 1982, he fell ill in the office of his colleague Carlo Sassi, at the Rai headquarters in Milan, while he was preparing for the upcoming episode of La Domenica Sportiva a report on the Inter-Napoli Serie A match : is hospitalized in serious condition for a cerebral haemorrhage at the Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan, where he dies on the morning of October 18 at the age of 42.

His organs are removed; his corneas are implanted in a woman, blind for 15 years and with six children. After the burial on the ground and the exhumation at the end of the concession, his remains rest in the Lambrate Cemetery, in his Milan.

“He was born to hear angels and instead, oh goddamn it, had to go to brothels. […] Poor old Pepinoeu! He struck the card with commitment in the tavern and raved about a horse modly set on running; he threw half a liter and improvised jokes that often expressed the spice of life. He had a natural and mocking humor: an innate honesty forbade him to fuss in any field he found himself producing words and thoughts.

He worked hard, frenziedly, for asking life for what it would take for others to be smashed in no time. He has stolen from her as many days as he could without ever yielding to the presumed fear of losing her too soon. His romantic incontinence was pathetic madness. And I, who loved him above all for this, now feel a remorse that even makes my pain awkward ... "

In mass culture

His is the famous phrase - which later became the title of a song and even an advertising slogan - which made Beccalossi say, turning to Bearzot to call him for the 1982 world championship, pronounced in a report by La Domenica Sportiva on a match of the Inter: "My name is Evaristo, sorry if I insist."

His friend Enzo Jannacci dedicated to him the lyrics of the song L'amico, inserted as the second track in the album Discogreve. In 1983 an annual journalistic prize was dedicated to the memory of Beppe Viola, initially awarded with the collaboration and sponsorship of AVIS and AIDO, whose award ceremony was held in Coccaglio in the province of Brescia; subsequently the organization was transferred to Arco, in the province of Trento.

Sports journalists known to the general public appear in the roll of honor of the "Premio Beppe Viola", such as Sandro Ciotti, Gianni Mura, Paolo Valenti, Tito Stagno, Bruno Pizzul, Mario Sconcerti, Gianni Minà, Fabrizio Maffei, Antonella Clerici, Stefano Bizzotto , Paola Ferrari, Ivan Zazzaroni, Giorgio Terruzzi, Simona Ercolani, Claudio Icardi, Maurizio Crosetti, Massimo Caputi, Ilaria D'Amico, Marco Mazzocchi, Emanuele Dotto and Pierluigi Pardo, but also non-sportsmen (especially in the early years) who had distinguished themselves for the publication of services in favor of blood and organ donations. Currently, the journalistic awards ceremony is usually held at the end of another initiative of international importance, already existing and named after him after his death: the "City of Arco-Beppe Viola Tournament", for the junior category Allievi.

Collegamenti esterni

Beppe Viola on Wikipedia

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