Cino Del Duca Cino Del Duca ( 25 July 1899 – 24 May 1967 ) was an Italian - born businessman film producer and philanthropist who moved to France in 1923 where he made a fortune in the French publishing business . Biography . Born in Montedinove in the Province of Ascoli Piceno , Cino Del Duca played a major role in the French Resistance during the German occupation of France in World War II . His service to help liberate the country from the Nazi s earned him the Croix de guerre . Del Duca began with a small printing shop in Paris and eventually expanded into various publishing businesses . After the War , he established the " Franc Tireur " in 1949 and the Paris - Journal in 1957 . Two years later he merged the two as the morning tabloid " Paris - Jour " that proved successful in a highly competitive , and at the time , overly saturated , Paris newspaper market . ( Time magazine , April 26 , 1963 . ) He built a publishing empire in France anchored by a series of very successful magazines such as " Nous Deux " , " Télé Poche " , " Modes de Paris " , " Les Editions mondiales " and others . His companies published journals such as " Hurrah ! " ( 1935 – 1953 ) and " L ' Aventureux " ( 1936 – 1942 ) plus through his agency Mondial Presse he acquired the French language publishing rights to English language comic strips and series such as Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs . As well , his Éditions Del Duca ( book publishing company was also very successful . In 1952 he established " La Bourse Del Duca " that awarded a medallion and a cash prize to support first - time authors . In 1954 , Cino Del Duca entered the motion picture production business . Between then and 1962 he helped finance and produce eight feature films including 1960 ' s acclaimed " L ' avventura " . Cino Del Duca expanded his media empire into the Federal Republic of Germany , Great Britain , and his native Italy . His business successes earned him great wealth and he became a benefactor to a number of charitable causes . As a hobby , he acquired a 55 hectare property at Biéville - Quétiéville in the Calvados département in what is part of a large horse farm area of Basse - Normandie . Del Duca ' s Haras de Quétiéville racing stable and stud farm was a prominent part of thoroughbred horse racing in France and in 1951 their stallion Prince Bio was the country ' s leading sire . Significant investments in Italy . Cino Del Duca expanded his publishing business to Italy in 1951 . His Milan book publishing company brought out works translated into the Italian language from English , French and other notable writers such as Romain Gary and Elizabeth Peters . With Gaetano Baldacci and Enrico Mattei , in April 1956 Cino Del Duca founded the " Il Giorno " newspaper in Milan . In 1955 , he rescued the A . S . Ascoli football team in Ascoli Piceno from bankruptcy . He built the Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca ( stadium ) in 1962 where the team still plays and which bears his name . The team carried the name " Del Duca Ascoli " until it was sold by his widow following his death in 1967 . Legacy . Cino Del Duca died in 1967 and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris . The " Rue Cino Del Duca " in Biarritz is named in his honor as is another street in the XVIIe arrondissement of Paris . His widow Simone used their great wealth to continue and expand their philanthropic works . In 1969 she established the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca , an international literary award with a substantial cash prize . In 1975 she created the Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation to oversee all the various charitable involvements . The Foundation became a significant patron of the arts in France and a very important benefactor to medical research ers worldwide .