Giovanni Bissietta was the pen name of the Italian painter, illustrator and art teacher Giuseppe F. Fontanelli. He was born in San Miniato (Pisa) in 1910, and showed an early talent for drawing. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Santa Chiara in San Miniato, and graduated at the Academy of Brera in Milan. He began his career working as a poster artist and illustrator, immediately signing his work with Bissietta. He made cartoons and comic strips for the magazines Cartoccino dei Piccoli, Robinson and L'Audace, and for a couple of French publishing houses. One of his creations was the character 'Nottolino', which appeared in the children's tabloid Jumbo. For Robinson, he made an adaptation of the Italian epic poem 'Orlando Furioso'.
