Mario Kinel graduated from the Sušak Grammar School in 1940, and studied Croatian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities in Zagreb.
He was a self-taught musician and the author of several popular lyrics for Ivo Robić: Samo jednom se ljubi, Srce laku noć, Ne plači.
Since 1951 he was employed as a journalist and radio editor on Radio Rijeka where he became the main initiator of creative entertainment and music production. In only a year (1955/1956) about fifty songs were taken from Rijeka Radio by Jugoton Record Label and released them as records.
He composed about 800 hits such as Waltz in Kostrena and One Night in Kostrena and wrote or rendered (from Italian) more than 3000 texts.
He wrote poetry, articles and reviews in about forty daily newspapers and magazines, wrote art critics, and translated from and into Italian. As a freelance artist he retired in 1981 recognised as a prominent composer. He has published more than 1.200 enigmatic puzzles.
He was awarded “Josip Slavenski” Vjesnik Award in 1988.
Grave location: TRSAT (A-8-142)