The BBC said, correctly: “To understand who Montanelli was, let this alone be said: scores of three different generations of Italian journalists called him "dad".  A father for all "correspondents"; literally a  living paradigm of that type of writing that lies between journalism and literature.

DOC Tuscany-born from Fucecchio (Fi), son of a headmaster, two degrees, in law and political science. He emigrated to France, attended the Sorbonne and was hired as a reporter at Paris Soir, later at the United Press agency.

They were times of the war in Africa and Montanelli volunteered. His first experience as correspondent was in Spain for the "Messaggero", and it was also his first demonstration of a thoroughly conservative man but also a totally free one. While the newspapers of the time told of the taking of Santander with nationalistic-fascistic enthusiasm, Montanelli wrote that as far as he could see Franco’s legions had a single opponent ahead of them: heat.

Sacked on the spot, expelled from the Fascist Party, struck off the Journalist’s Register. After a year’s exile in Estonia, "Corriere della Sera"’s director Aldo Borelli offered him a collaboration. So, when the Soviet Union invaded Finland, Montanelli was the only western journalist to witness it, and from there he conquered the loyalty and affection of his readers.

In the dark days of the Salò Republic he was arrested and sentenced to death: he escaped and found refuge in Switzerland.
He returned to the Corriere but he had to wait till '56 to cover the role of great correspondent; the first journalist in the world to behold the days of Budapest invaded by Moscow’s tanks.

Years passed, it is impossible to list all his reports, his travels. His work for Mattei’s Eni remained historical.
The break-up with the Corriere took place with Piero Ottone’s management; Spadolini’s firing ("a Guatemalan golpe" was his definition) was the casus belli.

Montanelli founded "Il Giornale" in ‘74, a decidedly moderate and conservative newspaper, always capable however of taking on independent positions, such as when he opposed the theory of the "opposed extremisms". A position that cost him an attempt by the Red Brigades; they shot his legs. From Milan’s "Fatebenefratelli" hospital he dictated, even on that day, his “piece” ("if they think they’re shutting me up they’re mistaken "). With his "Controcorrente", a few lines in italics at the bottom of the page, he defined his dry, sarcastic, precise style, inventing even a new journalistic style, revisited today.

He abandoned his creature in '94 through conflicts with its new editor, Silvio Berlusconi, who wasn’t keen on the “toscanaccio” from Fucecchio’s irrepressible freedom of thought.
 
He founded "La Voce", which lived a short life and cost him the accusation of "Marxist" from Italian conservatives. He returned to the Corriere, called by Paolo Mieli, to edit the dialogue with the readers page..."La Stanza", (The room) which will now be forever empty.

"I am tired of writing books, explaining Italy to Italians, replying to readers with or without a smile on my face", he had explained a few days before his death in an interview. And at 5.30 pm on Sunday 22nd of July, in room 610 of Milan’s Madonnina clinic, it wasn’t just Indro Montanelli that expired. As his last director Ferruccio de Bortoli reminded us, that afternoon the Italian XX century truly ended, Indro’s century.

Specials on the net (In Italian)

"Il nuovo"
www.ilnuovo.it/nuovo/foglia/0,1007,62155,00.html

"Il Corriere della Sera"
www.corriere.it/edicola/morte_montanelli.html

"La Repubblica"
www.repubblica.it/quotidiano/repubblica/20010723/...

"La Stampa"
www.lastampa.it/Redazione/Ultima/Redazione/...

Net archive

www.freemedia.at/IPIReport2.00/34Montanelli.htm
www.leonet.it/culture/fondazmb/index.html (In Italian)
www.humnet.unipi.it/~pacitti/...