by Gabriele Canè
Let’s take it from the other side of the coin: what will become of those who will remain with only one surname, and also short? Canè, for example. They will be gods pariah in a world of business cards that between personal data, educational qualifications, honors, home address, mobile phone, office phone, email and social profiles must be like sheets.
Mind you. THE five bills which are about to be unified to Senate to allow (optionally) that the father’s name that of the mother is also accompanied (to follow), will write a positive page in the history of our costume. And let’s also say in the pursuit of gender equality that it needs much more to assert itself, especially at work, but that even with these pieces it can go to compose a more modern and complete puzzle.
Moreover, a sentence of the Constitutional Court of 2016 already foresees this possibility. But one thing is the tortuous path of a judicial procedure, or the contradictory interpretations of local authorities, and those who have tried are well aware of this; other is a simple simple rule, which allows you to go to the registry office and say: “My daughter was born, this is the name, and these are the surnames”. Stop. And it is no small feat, even if, as mentioned, the first of the two will always be the paternal surname in order not to transform families into Babylonians in which everyone has a different surname, at least the first.
In history and in languages they exist and patronymics e not matronymics: Pelides (Achilles) son of Peleus, or Petrovic, son Petr. Of course, it will be a great revolution for us. Until not so many years ago women, how they got married, were leaking in fact their surname of origin, except in the workplace. My mother, for example, was for everyone and she defined herself the “Mrs. Canè”. That in reality his name was Zappi I derived from the fact that my uncle, her brother, was called Zappi, and therefore she could not be called differently. In Francewhere now they are so angry because they are passing a law that will even allow them to choose their relatives, in the more traditional families and in the invitations to the parties of the nobility, the Signora has neither name nor surnamebut it’s… madame Gabriele Canei.e. the husband’s name and surname.
Of course, once the law is approved, there will be some good ones. And of all the colors. Mr Red-Blacksthe Lady Whites-Greens O White-Blacks. Infinite combinations and contrasts: Longo-Corti, Blacksmiths-Iron, Brutus-Boni… Girls and boys with parents with long surnames will have some difficulties and who, moreover, will be given an important name: Massimiliano Degli Innocenti-Pellegrini. Which will make everyone seem a bit gods nobles, because until now practically only they carried more than one surname. And it’s funny that all of this materializes at a time when especially young people cut, they simplify, as in a Tweet, in an Instagram post. Andre instead of Andrea, Marghe for Margherita, Lo for Lorenzo… So we will have some Dagoberto Arrivabene-Boncompagni who for friends and relatives will simply be Dago. Except when he has to take a day off to make two signatures at the notary.