Gianni Rodan
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Gianni Rodari is an Italian author, perhaps best known for creating the Chippolino fairy tale.
The story of Chippolino was popular enough to have a ballet staged in Russia in 1973, composed by Karen Khachaturian and choreographed by Genrik Alexandrovich Maiorov. Chippolino, or Little Onion, fights the unjust treatment of his fellow vegetable townfolk by the fruit royalty (Princess Lemon and overly proud Senorita Tomato) in the garden kingdom. The main theme is the "struggle of the underclass and the powerful, good versus evil" and the importance of friendship in the face of difficulties.[1]