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The ceremony on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Angela Giussani and the first 60 years of the iconic comic 

Milan, June 15 2022 – Today the garden in Piazza Grandi was named after Angela and Luciana Giussani, the Milanese sisters who in 1962 invented Diabolik, one of the longest-lived and iconic characters in the history of Italian comics which this year celebrates its first 60 years. A tribute that also falls on the 100th anniversary of Angela's birth (10 June 1922).  

In November 1962, a new comic appeared on newsstands in Milan: it was called Diabolik, it proclaimed itself the 'King of Terror' and had a different format from the usual comics. The stories of this 'thrill comic' are written by A. and L. Giussani. Antonio and Ludovico, Andrea and Luca? No Angela and Luciana.  

Although the Sixties are leading to a new independence, for two women from the 'Milan well' it is still considered inappropriate to write stories for adults in which the protagonist is a bad, diabolical criminal who always manages to escape the law and, as if that wasn't enough , lives more uxorio with his blonde adventure companion. And certainly the great success that soon invests this 'black' comic, still today among the best-selling comics on the Italian market, lies precisely in the personality of its authors: two beautiful, cultured, witty and restless women who don't just invent a series, but their own way of making comics, of thinking about it, writing it, managing it, living it.  
 
But who were the two "mysterious" creators of that character who fascinates the public so much? Two women who are not at all ordinary.  

Angela (born in Milan on 10 June 1922) has a strong character, she is extroverted and rebellious. She goes with ease from a gala evening, in evening dress, to driving an airplane. Yes, because in the fifties, when the few women who drove a car were looked at with curiosity and suspicion, Angela even had an airplane pilot's license. And not only that, she is a sporty woman: she rides a horse, skis, practices various sports, drives a car (hers) of hers. But above all she works hard. She began as a model for fashion and advertising, then as a journalist and editor. At twenty-seven she married the publisher Gino Sansoni: a guy full of ideas who had the courage and audacity to send them all to print. Alongside such a dynamic character, Angela would seem destined to remain in the shadow, and instead she will even manage to outclass him.  

Luciana (born in Milan, 19 April 1928), her younger sister, approached the world of publishing a few years later. Apparently more rational and concrete, she initially seems destined for a quiet career as an employee. After graduating from the German school, she finds a good job at Folletto (the well-known vacuum cleaner factory). In post-war Italy, a permanent, well-paid job is a lifelong ambition. For Luciana, however, it is just a transition phase. Because she is not content to sit and watch her sister's first editorial adventures. And Angela feels the need to involve Luciana, whose collaboration with Sansoni's Astoria Publishing House is becoming less and less 'external'. Until that publishing house becomes too small for the two Giussanis, who want something more. Something of all theirs. So Angela quit and with her liquidation he opened her publishing house in 1960: Astorina. 
 

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