Carlo de Fornaro

Born in Calcutta in 1871 to Swiss-Italian parents, Carlo de Fornaro later studied architecture in Zurich and painting in Munich before making his career in the United States. He became known as an artist and caricaturist as well as a writer, and his life seems to have been as dramatic as his work.

De Fornaro wrote across several very different genres. His books include imaginative tales such as White Lotus and Uttara, the prison memoir A Modern Purgatory, and political works connected with Mexico, showing a writer who moved easily between storytelling, satire, and current affairs.

He is often remembered as more than simply an author: he was also a humorist, editor, and political activist. That unusually broad career gives his writing an energetic, observant quality, with the perspective of someone who had seen public life from many angles.