A discovery that smells of yellowed paper and memory: among the documents of Sauro Marianelli, a children’s teacher and author who passed away last July in Follonica, an unpublished nursery rhyme by Gianni Rodari, never published before, has emerged.
The discovery took place in Tuscany, in the personal archive of Marianelli, who with Rodari had shared friendship, esteem and the same passion for school and words dedicated to children.
After his death, Marianelli’s heirs donated the entire fund of studies and manuscripts to the Grosseto Historical Institute of the Resistance and Contemporary Age. It is here that two local scholars, Alberto Prunetti and Barbara Catalani, while patiently working through folders and notes, found a folder with a label that mentioned the name of Gianni Rodari.
Inside, some letters never seen before and – among them – an autographed nursery rhyme composed of four short rhyming verses, a small poetic journey through the landscapes of the Tuscan Maremma: Follonica, Grosseto, Piombino… places also dear to Rodari, who had already evoked them in his other works.
The comparison between the handwriting of the letter and that of the nursery rhyme seems to correspond, explained Prunetti, who has already contacted Rodarian experts for verification. Everyone agrees: the text is unknown and could really be an authentic original.
A touching detail: Marianelli’s archive could have been lost. Barbara Catalani, who had been his student as a child, saved him. It was she who convinced the family to deliver the materials to the Institute, thus preserving an important piece of Italian educational and literary memory.
Among the papers, in addition to Rodari’s nursery rhyme, there are also other hidden treasures: an autograph dedication by Carlo Cassola from 1960 and unpublished letters from post-war writers such as Marcello Morante and Mario Terrosi, part of that lively intellectual circle that revolved around Luciano Bianciardi.
Small fragments of history that resurface like seeds in the soil of time. And among them, a new nursery rhyme by Gianni Rodari ready to make people smile, think and dream again – just as he would have wanted.
