Valentina Camerini - 365 real-life superheroes.

Published by Piccolo Nero,

an imprint of Schwartz Books Pty Ltd

Level 1, 221 Drummond Street

Carlton VIC 3053, Australia

www.nerobooks.com

Copyright Valentina Camerini 2019

Translation Moreno Giovannoni 2020

World copyright 2019 DeA Planeta Libri s.r.l., Milan, Italy

Originally published as 365 Storie di Super Eroi

This edition published in 2020

Valentini Camerini asserts her right to be known as the author of this work.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior consent of the publishers.

9781760642471 (paperback)

9781743821381 (ebook)

Cover design by Stefania Merenda and Akiko Chan

Text design and typesetting by Stefania Merenda and Akiko Chan

Illustrations by Marianna Balducci; GoodStudio (Shutterstock)

To Milo, Ada, Clara, Diego, Jiada, Bice, Pablo, Remo and Leandro friends from birth.

ELIZABETH I

WHO DIDNT WANT TO INTERFERE IN THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF HER SUBJECTS

Elizabeth became Queen of England in 1558, after her older sister, Mary Tudor, died. Mary had been a devout Catholic and wanted her subjects to be Catholics like her.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, allowed the English people to decide for themselves who they should pray to and how.

She preferred peace to fanaticism.

ALBERTO CAIRO

THE PHYSIOTHERAPIST WHO GAVE HIS PATIENTS A FUTURE

One day in 1988, Alberto Cairo arrived in Afghanistan a country where a long war had left a lot of people injured or disabled. One major problem was the landmines that were hidden under the ground. Afghans ran the risk of stepping on a bomb every time they walked out of their houses.

Alberto worked in a Red Cross hospital as a physiotherapist. He provided artificial arms and legs to the people who had lost them because of landmines and the war in general. However, he quickly realised that arms and legs were not enough. The people of Afghanistan also needed a future and the opportunity to live with dignity. So he taught all of his patients a trade. He showed them how to help the wounded, and how to build and fit artificial limbs. Albertos patients became hospital employees. No-one knew better than they did how to help new patients adapt to their prosthetic limbs.

Alberto could have simply stuck to doing his job in the rehabilitation centre, because it isnt really part of a physiotherapists role to teach his patients a trade. However, he decided to help others as much as he could.

Real superheroes always go the extra mile.

ERIN BROCKOVICH

WHO FOUGHT FOR JUSTICE EVEN THOUGH SHE WASNT A LAWYER

What do you do when the power company pollutes a towns water supply with a toxic substance?

Although she wasnt a lawyer, Erin Brockovich decided she would stand up for the people of Hinkley, a small dusty town in California, whose water had been poisoned. She wasnt worried about having to fight famous, powerful lawyers. She collected data and information about what had happened and was able to persuade the community to trust her. The evidence she gathered was convincing. She took the guilty to court and they were forced to pay a large amount of compensation to the townspeople who had drunk the contaminated water. At the time it was one of the biggest compensation payouts in history: 333 million dollars.

When real superheroes know they are right, they fear no-one.

JACQUES-YVES COUSTEAU

WHO SHOWED US HOW MUCH LIFE THERE IS IN THE SEAS AND OCEANS

It is difficult to truly understand the value of something you dont know anything about even if it occupies 70 per cent of the surface of our planet.

With his exploration, documentaries and research, Jacques-Yves Cousteau contributed enormously to our knowledge of the marine environment. He designed a submersible and sailed far and wide on his ship, Calypso. He was also able to use photographic and video cameras deep under the sea to reveal the richness of marine life.

His love of adventure and the sea inspired his travels. Through his commitment as a documentary-maker and researcher, he helped humanity understand the importance of protecting the oceans.

ADRIANO OLIVETTI

WHO PUT A LIBRARY IN A FACTORY

Businessman Adriano Olivetti had a vision for a special factory where workers do their jobs well because they are happy, and he set out to create this. In 1936, business was very good, so he gave his workers an extra weeks holiday. He put in a canteen, provided child care, set up a library, and employed a mechanic to fix the workers motorcycles and bicycles. He also lent them money to buy their homes.

He saw his factory as a small community where everyone was entitled to be happy.

It was a simple yet revolutionary idea.

KATHRINE VIRGINIA KATHY SWITZER

THE FEMALE MARATHON RUNNER WHO BROKE THE RULES

Over 50 years ago, in 1967, an athlete called K.V. Switzer signed up to run in the Boston Marathon and was given running number 261.

The organisers of the event didnt know that K.V. stood for Kathrine Virginia. In those days, women were not allowed to compete. It was only when she was at the starting line that the judges realised their mistake and tried to stop her. They argued with her, and when Kathy refused to listen they tried to use force. She managed to escape them and reached the finish line, but the images of those men trying to drag her away were seen all around the world.

Kathy showed how unfair it was to exclude athletes just because they were women.

Its really important for everyone to be able to participate in sporting events.

In 1972 the Boston Marathon allowed both men and women to compete. Kathrine had won.

ALAN TURING

THE MATHEMATICIAN WHO INVENTED COMPUTERS AND WON A WAR

During the Second World War, Britain had a problem. Their enemy, the German army, was using coded messages that no-one outside Germany could decipher to communicate with its forces scattered all over the world.