[1] He graduated from the University of Turin, and his literary career started with the publication of Pia in 1912.
Other novels followed, and in 1917 he started on the trilogy La saga dei Vela, which was to become his best known work.
[citation needed] During the first world war he served in the Alpini Corps, and from this experience in 1926 he wrote the children's novel Il piccolo Alpino (The little Alpino), which was very successful and inspired the 1986 Italian TV mini-series Mino.
He wrote film screenplays and stage plays, such as Mille lire (1923) and La damigella di Bard (1936).
[2] However, he had some popularity among teenagers in the 1960s and 1970s for his historical novels and a column he wrote in the magazine Topolino.