Lucrezia Ciotti The passing of Toni Capuozzo , who died at 77, also brings to mind one of his last television interviews. A guest of Silvia Toffanin on Verissimo last May, the veteran war correspondent retraced the most significant moments of his life, recounting the beginnings of his career and revealing a little-known backstory.
Toni Capuozzo, his career as a war correspondent and his years at Mediaset
Born in Palmanova, in the province of Udine, on December 7, 1948, Toni Capuozzo graduated in Sociology from the University of Trento , where his political interests also developed. After initial experiences in print media, including Reporter and Panorama , he joined Mediaset in the early 1990s. Since 1992, he has covered some of the major international conflicts as a correspondent , from the former Yugoslavia to Somalia, from Afghanistan to the Middle East.
Among the most significant memories of her career was the rescue of little Kemal, an eight-month-old baby orphaned and injured during the siege of Sarajevo, whom she welcomed into her family in Italy. In 2004, she also experienced the dramatic kidnapping in Iraq with the Tg5 crew. For years, she served as deputy director of the news program and hosted Terra!, a historic in-depth program.
An intense career, built on firsthand reporting of events and a passion for journalism, which continued to accompany him in his writing and subsequent television projects.
Toni Capuozzo dies: his confession in his final interview on Verissimo
During his last interview on Verissimo, which aired in May , he retraced the steps that led him to choose this path , also recounting a youthful dream very different from the profession that would make him famous. Before approaching print and television, in fact, he wanted to become a sailor and travel the world. A passion born from the stories of his grandmother, who worked as a first-class waitress on ships: " When she returned from her travels, she would talk about faraway places. So that's why I dreamed of being a sailor ," he recalled.
His path, however, took a different direction due to the difficulties he encountered in the technical subjects required to attend the Nautical Institute. " I proved to be less apt at mathematics and the technical subjects required to attend the Nautical Institute ," he explained, recounting how he subsequently enrolled in high school and took a long time to find his path. The turning point came with the discovery of journalism, which allowed him to combine two great personal interests: writing and travel. " I discovered that being a journalist could be a way to pay for my passions, which were travel and writing. I was 28, I started late, " he confided. An encounter that came not very early, but was destined to transform into a profession lived with great dedication.