Dante Quinterno

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Dante Quinterno

Born	October 26, 1909 San Vicente, Argentina
Died	May 14, 2003 (aged 93) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine
Area(s)	artist, writer
Notable works	Patoruzú

Dante Quinterno (San Vicente, October 26, 1909 - Buenos Aires, May 14, 2003) was an Argentine comics artist, famous for being the creator of the Patoruzú character.

He was born in San Vicente, Buenos Aires on October 26, 1909, son of Martín Quinterno and Laura Raffo^[1]. His paternal grandfather was originally from Piamonte, and emigrated to Argentina to be a farmer and then a fruit seller.

In 1924 he began sending his drawings to several Buenos Aires newspapers and in 1925 he publish his first comic Panitruco, in El Suplemento. Later on he wrote Andanzas y desventuras de Manolo Quaranta (1926); Don Fermín (later renamed Don Fierro, 1926), and Un porteño optimista (later named Las aventuras de Don Gil Contento, 1927), for different newspapers. In the latter he introduced in 1928 a new character Curugua-Curuguagüigua, which was later renamed Patoruzú. Along with Patoruzú came other supporting characters as Isidoro Cañones and the young Patoruzú (Patoruzito), which later on became their own main character in their own publications. Since 1936, Patoruzú became an independent publication, which at it's zenith sold 300,000 copies. In that same year, he founded Dante Quinterno Publishing (Editorial Dante Quinterno). Other comic books followed: Patoruzito (1945), with the colaboration of Eduardo Ferro, José Luis Salinas and Alberto Breccia, Andanzas de Patoruzú (1956), Correrías de Patoruzito (1958) and Locuras de Isidoro (1968).

Quinterno also started a career as animator, and on November 20, 1942 opened a 15 minute short, Upa en apuros at the Ambassador cinema in Buenos Aires.

In the 1950s he moved away from the comics world, becoming a businessman. Married Rosa Schiaffino in 1938, they had three children: Dante, Walter and Mónica. He died in Buenos Aires on May 14, 2003 and is buried at La Recoleta Cemetery^[2].