Raul Damonte Botana (November 20, 1939 - December 14, 1987), better known by the nom de plume Copi (an Argentinism for "chicken"), was an Argentine writer, cartoonist, and playwright who spent most of his career in Paris.

Biography

Damonte spent most of his youth in Montevideo. His maternal grandfather was the journalist Natalio Felix Botana and his father was the journalist Raul Damonte Taborda, an antiperonist Radical politician and director of the journal Tribuna Popular. Damonte showed an early talent for drawing and, from his adolescence, contributed caricatures to his father's publication and to the satirical magazine Tia Vicenta.

His father's political activities forced the family into exile in Uruguay, Haiti, and later New York. He finally settled in Paris, where he embarked on a career as a cartoonist for such newspapers as Le Nouvel Observateur. His most notable character during this period was La Femme assise, The Sitting Woman.

He was a member of Tse, an association of Franco-Argentine artists with whom in 1969 he staged a biographical play about Eva Peron. His theatrical works, influenced by Samuel Beckett, are characterized by the failure of characters to communicate.

Copi also collaborated with the avant-garde group Panico, which included Fernando Arrabal, Roland Topor, and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

He died of an AIDS-related illness in 1987, at the age of 48.

The Argentine writer Cesar Aira, who wrote an essay on Copi, has given lectures on his works in the Ricardo Rojas Cultural Center and is credited with popularizing Copi in Argentina. His posthumous reputation is based largely on his plays, stories, and novels.

Novels

L'Uruguayen, Christian Bourgois, 1973
Le bal des folles, Christian Bourgois, 1977
Une langouste pour deux, Christian Bourgois, 1978
La cite des rats, Belfond, 1979
La vida es un tango, Anagrama, 1981(his only finished novel in Spanish)
La guerre des pedes, Albin Michel, 1982 (written in Spanish but unedited)
Virginia Woolf a encore frappe, Persona, 1983
L'Internationale argentine, Belfond, 1988

Theater

Un angel para la senora Lisca, Buenos Aires, directed by Copi, 1962.
Sainte Geneviève dans sa baignoire, Le Bilboquet, directed by Jorge Lavelli, 1966.
L'alligator, le the, International festival of UNEF, directed by Jerome Savary, 1966.
La journee d'une rêveuse, Theater of Lutèce, directed by Jorge Lavelli, 1968.
Eva Peron, Theater of l'Epee-de-Bois, directed by Alfredo Arias, 1970.
L'homosexuel ou la difficulte de s'exprimer, City University Theater, directed by Jorge Lavelli, 1971. Spanish title: El homosexual, o la dificultad de exprimirse.
Les quatre jumelles, Le Palace, directed by Jorge Lavelli, 1973.
Loretta Strong, Theater of the Gaïte Montparnasse, directed by Javier Botana, 1974.
La Pyramide, Le Palace, directed by Copi, 1975.
La coupe du monde, Le Selenite, directed by Copi, 1975.
L'ombre de Venceslao, Festival de la Rochelle, directed by Jerome Savary, 1978.
La Tour de la Defense, Teatro Fontaine, directed by Claude Confortès, 1981.
Le Frigo, Fontaine Theater, 1983.
La nuit de Madame Lucienne, Avignon Festival, directed by Jorge Lavelli, 1985.
Una visita inoportuna, Teatro de la Colline, directed by Jorge Lavelli, 1988.
Les escaliers du Sacre-cœur, Aubervilliers Theater, directed by Alfredo Arias, 1990.

Comics

Le dernier salon où l'on cause, Ediciones de Square.
Et moi, pourquoi j'ai pas de banane?, Ediciones de Square, 1975.
Les vieilles putes, Editions du Square, 1977. Italian title: Storie puttanesche, Mondadori, Milan 1979.
Le monde fantastique des gays 1986. Italian title: Il fantastico mondo dei gay... e delle loro mamme!, Glenat Italia, Milan 1987.
La femme assise, Stock, 2002.
Un livre blanc, Buchet-Castel, 2002. Italian title: Un libro bianco.
Les poulets n'ont pas de chaises. Italian title: I polli non hanno sedie, Glenat Italia, 1988. ISBN 88-7811-015-9.

Other

Copi, collected works edited by Jorge Damonte and Christian Bourgois, 1990.

External link

Other pages about Argentine cartoonists

-Alberto Breccia -Alberto Saichann -Copi -Domingo Roberto Mandrafina -Guillermo Mordillo -Horacio Altuna -Jorge Zaffino -Liniers (cartoonist) -Maitena Burundarena -Manuel Garcia Ferre -Quino -Quirino Cristiani -Roberto Fontanarrosa

Other pages about Argentine comics artists

-Alberto Breccia -Ariel Olivetti -Bruno Premiani -Carlos Meglia -Copi -Daniel Branca -Domingo Roberto Mandrafina -Eduardo Risso -Francisco Solano Lopez (comics) -Horacio Altuna -Ignacio Noe -Jorge Lucas -Jose Antonio Munoz -Jose Cuneo -Jose Massaroli -Juan Gimenez -Juan Zanotto -Leonardo Manco -Marcelo Frusin -Sergio Mulko

Other pages about Argentine writers

-Abel Posse -Abelardo Castillo -Adolfo Bioy Casares -Alberto Gerchunoff -Alberto Granado -Alberto Migre -Alberto Vanasco -Alejandro Dolina -Alfonsina Storni -Alicia Kozameh -Alicia Partnoy -Andres Rivera -Andrew Graham-Yooll -Angelica Gorodischer -Antonio di Benedetto -Arturo Jauretche -Atahualpa Yupanqui -Benito Lynch -Bernardo Verbitsky -Carlos Astrada -Carlos Barbarito -Carlos Mastronardi -Cesar Aira -Copi -Daniel Fresco -Diego Abad de Santillan -Domingo Faustino Sarmiento -Edgardo Cozarinsky -Edmundo Murray -Eduardo Gudino Kieffer -Eduardo Gutierrez -Eduardo Mallea -Eduardo Montes-Bradley -Elsa Osorio -Emeterio Cerro -Enrique Anderson Imbert -Enrique Cadicamo -Ernesto Sabato -Esteban Echeverria -Esther Vilar -Ezequiel Martinez Estrada -Guillermo Martinez -Guillermo Verdecchia -Gustavo Adolfo Martinez Zuviria -Gustavo Gabriel Levene -Hector Alberto Alvarez -Homero Manzi -Hugo Wass -Humberto Costantini -Javier Arroyuelo -Jordan Bruno Genta -Jorge Bucay -Jorge Fondebrider -Jorge Lanata -Jorge Luis Borges -Jorge Zentner -Jose Arce -Jose Hernandez -Jose Marmol -Josefina Passadori -Juan Argerich -Juan Carlos Portantiero -Juan Forn -Juan Gelman -Juan Jose Saer -Juan Maria Gutierrez -Juan Terranova -Juana Manuela Gorriti -Julio Carreras (h) -Julio Cortazar -Leonardo Castellani -Leopoldo Lugones -Liliana Heker -Lisandro de la Torre -List of Argentine writers -Luisa Valenzuela -Macedonio Fernandez -Manuel Mujica Lainez -Manuel Peyrou -Manuel Puig -Marcelo Birmajer -Marcelo Figueras -Marco Denevi -Marcos di Palma -Maria Dhialma Tiberti -Maria Elena Walsh -Maria Ines Falconi -Maria Kodama -Mariano Moreno -Mario Rodriguez Cobos -Miguel Betanzos -Miguel Cane -Mora Torres -Noe Jitrik -Norah Lange -Norberto Ceresole -Oliverio Girondo -Osvaldo Soriano -Pacho O'Donnell -Paul Groussac -Pilar de Lusarreta -Rafael Squirru -Raul Scalabrini Ortiz -Ricardo Piglia -Roberto Fontanarrosa -Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill -Rodolfo Walsh -Rodrigo Fresan -Sergio Chejfec -Silvina Ocampo -Silvio Frondizi -Tomas Eloy Martinez -Victoria Ocampo -Washington Cucurto -William Henry Hudson

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Copi