Michele Rech (Italian: [miˈkɛːle ˈrɛk]; born 12 December 1983), known as Zerocalcare ([ˌdzɛrokalˈkaːre]), is an Italian cartoonist. His pen name, meaning "zero limescale", is based from a TV commercial jingle for a descaler product that came to his mind when he had to quickly come up with a Internet nickname. Rech was born in Cortona, Tuscany, Italy, to an Italian father from Rome and a French mother. He was raised in France and later in Rome (Rebibbia-Ponte Mammolo area), where he graduated a ...