Francesco Tullio Altan (known simply as Altan) was born in Treviso, Italy, on 30 September 1942. He started a degree in architecture but dropped out to dedicate himself to cinema and television. He worked as a set designer and as a scriptwriter until 1970, when he moved to Brasil. There, his comics career took off. He created his first character, Kiko, for "Jornal do Brasil", a local newspaper. In 1974, he returned to his native country and worked on a new character, Trino, which was published in the magazine "Linus". The next year he created the puppy Pimpa, which was an immediate success and is still a children's favourite, published in the "Corriere dei Piccoli". He has also designed satirical political illustration for the newspaper "L'Espresso". He currently lives in Aquileia with his Brasilian wife and their daughter.