The 6th of January, at 77 years, he died in Buenos Aires Antonio Mongiello Ricci, Napo, recognized as one of the great artists and comedians graphics international. At the end of 1975 he left Rosario, his hometown, to settle in Paris, fleeing from the imminent dictatorship and in search of other horizons.
the category Of other famous argentinean colleagues, such as Fontanarrosa, Crist, and Cinchona, with which it shared a close friendship, he collaborated in The newspaper la Capital, and in almost all of the notable magazines of the genre of the years 70, as The zebra to polka dot, Aunt Vicenta, Satyricon, Chaupinela and The Hypotenuse. From Paris, during the military dictatorship, 1976/83, also on the opposition magazine’s satirical Humor.
His nickname in Argentina was Napoleon, but for obvious reasons he reduced it to Napo to settle in France, where he collaborated in the newspaper Le Monde and other publications, together with artists of the stature of Sempé, Siné, Mordillo and Hugo Pratt,
Transited between the plastic and the drawings, ingenious glass, full of textures and colors, and a humor of the absurd, acid and ironic. The international recognition did that expusiese his works in prestigious galleries and collaborate in publications of Argentina, France, Spain, Italy, other european countries and the united States. He also illustrated books of the Center Editor of Latin America and published in Rosario, his first collection of graphic humor: Tutti frutti. Also books, as Humor Golf –his other passion – and Napo Tango, the latter accompanied by a CD with the bandoneonist Juan José Mosalini. In 1970, for the journal 2001, drew the first version, with bias, anti-imperialist, the War of The Antares, with a script by Héctor Oesterheld.
The art critic and president of Humoristes International, Jerome Darwin, defined him as follows: “the Heir of Jeróme Bosch and Saul Steinberg, Napo transports us with its enormous inventive jungles delirious passions, where we are by the magic of the graphic humor with the tenderness and horror, goodness and beauty. It is a colorful mirror satirical, full of poetic wisdom.”
During the dictatorship of general Videla, helped in various ways to many exiles, and, among other activities, collaborated with colleagues as Plantú and Kerleroux in the newspaper of the complaint, Without Censorship, founded by Julio Cortázar, Osvaldo Soriano, and the one who this writes, among other exiled Latin american.
it Is important to note that other Napo, the citizen progressive, caring and generous to the personal spoils. One anecdote sums it up: during the government 1973/76, in full suppression of the band parapolicial peronist “Triple”, the bar “Odeon” of Rosario, a hundred meters from the Faculty of Philosophy, a bar of friends of between 20 and 30 years, met every day, until late at night. The group was rouged when many begin to military in various organizations, not necessarily guerrilla, but in any case, clandestine, or semi; the repression did not leave spaces and discretion was essential. As well, an evening like so many, the friends began to leave early, one-on-one, with excuses like “I have to go home because it came an aunt of the visit”; “I have to study” or, with a wink, “I have an appointment”, etc at The end were just me and then “Napoleon”. With a knowing smile, because everybody was clear that in those games there were other reasons, I told him: “All is rajan now early; how unlikely, no?”. Napo drank another mouthful of beer and answered me: “do you Know that happens, Carlos? That the today do not ‘go into something’, is because they do not have a heart…”
Chau, Napo, “au revoir”.
