Lamberto Yonna

Physical description pen and ink, brush and wash on paper Description Left unfinished, this is the third cartoon in a series of four showing the tribulations that the fictional Signor F. S. Internati goes through every day at the Australian internment camps - especially to do with the gossip of the other internees. Description A cartoon depicting an enormous fight that has broken out amongst the internees in the Loveday Internment Camp, South Australia. The men are hitting, pushing and climbing over each other in an attempt to get inside one of the buildings. Dionysus, the god of wine, presides over the scene and proclaims "In Vino Veritas" ["In Wine, Truth"]. Description Depicts a drawing of a single man in a bare, solitary prison cell. Bereft, he sits leaning against one of the walls with his head bowed. Internmnet at Long Bay assembled a mix of Italians from various professions, many of whom offered skills to help occupy fellow internees. Professor Lamberto Yonna, who organised Italian classes in the camps, provided many Italians with their first opportunity to become literate. Despite being an Italian internee (i.e. not a POW) Lamberto Yonna was interned at POW camps at Long Bay, Liverpool and Orange in New South Wales and at Loveday in South Australia for 4 years. Most of his sketches made during his internment illustrate his lively sense of humour, humanity and lack of bitterness. This work, however, reveals something of the social isolation and lonliness experienced by internees and POWs. He was an accomplished artist, conducting art classes in the camp and painting back drops for theatrical productions staged by his fellow internees. One of the largest problems for Italian internees and POWs was limited communication with their families due to inadequate mail services to Italy. Long Bay prison and state reformatory was used to house POWs during the Second World War.