The city of Milan celebrates the 150th anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. “Today, 150 years later, the figure of Alessandro Manzoni stands out as one of the most relevant personalities in the entire history of our city and our country – recalled the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala in his daily podcast ‘Buongiorno Milano ‘ dedicated to the writer – He is certainly not a simple character. But neither is he that dusty figure far from life that a certain Italian academic and journalistic tradition has handed over to public opinion and, above all, to the younger ones”.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 represents “a fundamental charter, born after the horrors of the Second World War, which identifies the human person in himself, without any difference, as a subject bearer of rights, thus barring the way to nefarious conceptions of supremacy based on race, on belonging, and, ultimately, on oppression, persecution, the prevalence of the strongest. Concepts and assumptions that – as we well know – are expressly placed at the basis of our republican Constitution”. President Sergio Mattarella underlined this, celebrating Alessandro Manzoni. In Manzoni’s vision “it is the person, as a daughter of God, and not the lineage, the belonging to an ethnic group or a national community, to be the recipient of universal rights, of guardianship and protection. It is man as such, not only as a member of a nation, as a citizen, who is the bearer of dignity and rights” the President of the Republic specified.“Son of his own century, Manzoni had the peculiarity – which belongs only to the greats – of casting a farsighted gaze on society and on the historical reality of his time, capable of going beyond, connecting – and often inspiring them – to the most lively and dynamic forces of Italian and European culture, pervaded by the aspiration for freedom, independence and self-determination. An aspiration that cannot be separated from opposition and repugnance towards tyranny, the abuse of power, violence, injustice, especially against the poor, the humble, the defenceless. Manzoni has always avoided, due to his proverbial reserve and also for health reasons, political militancy in the strict sense. But he is considered, quite rightly, an inspirer and a driving force behind our Risorgimento and the unification of Italy. And he is, to all intents and purposes, a father of our country”. President Sergio Mattarella said this when speaking on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni. It is necessary to reflect “on the tendency, recordable throughout the world, of the ruling classes to pander to their own electoral or consensus base and its changing moods, recorded from day to day through polls, rather than dedicating themselves to building wide-ranging policies, capable of withstanding the years and defining the future. Already in the Promessi Sposi, in the chapters dedicated to the plague, Manzoni wrote figuratively about these risks: “Common sense was there; but it was hidden, for fear of common sense”. President Sergio Mattarella said this when celebrating Alessandro Manzoni.
Mattarella lays wreath on Manzoni’s tomb in Milan
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, attended the deposition of a wreath, with white and red roses, on the tomb of the writer Alessandro Manzoni, whose 150th anniversary is celebrated today. Also present, among others, the deputy mayor Anna Scavuzzo and the members of the Commission for Honors at Famedio, the president of the municipal council Elena Buscemi, the councilor for Civic Services Gaia Romani and the councilor for Culture Tommaso Sacchi and the prefect of Milan Renato Saccone. After placing the wreath on the writer’s tomb, commissioner Sacchi explained to the President of the Republic some historical notes on the Famedio, the pantheon where those who brought prestige to the city are remembered. The tomb of Alessandro Manzoni is located right in the center of the structure. The Milanese writer was the first to be transferred to the Famedio, in 1883, ten years after his death. The remains of eight characters are housed in the Famedio, the others are inscribed. In the other two sarcophagi in the large room are Carlo Cattaneo and Luca Beltrami; while four columbaria on the west side guard the remains of Salvatore Quasimodo, Carlo Forlanini, Bruno Munari and Leo Valiani. Since November 2021, Carla Fracci has rested in a dovecote on the side, the first woman to be welcomed into the Famedio after 155 years since the inauguration of the Monumental Cemetery. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella was “sincerely impressed” by the visit to the Famedio of Monumental Cemetery of Milan, where he attended the laying of a wreath on the tomb of Alessandro Manzoni 150 years after the death of the great writer. To the Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Milan Tommaso Sacchi who illustrated some historical notes on Famedio Mattarella, he asked for information on some illustrious characters remembered in the pantheon.
“It is a great honor to visit the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who reiterates the great importance of Alessandro Manzoni in the cultural history and not only of our country”. He said it ithe president of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana, on the sidelines of the deposition of the crown at the tomb of Alessandro Manzoni whose 150th anniversary is celebrated today. “Mattarella was very impressed by the beauty of the Monumental Cemetery. He was passionate about getting to know the people who rest here and reiterated the importance of being him in Milan”, he concluded.
Manzoni, Fontana: ‘President Mattarella’s visit is a great honour’
Alessandro Manzoni “is a true Milanese of Europea writer who, from Piazza Belgioioso, exercised a fascination and interest through his works and thoughts that are difficult to imitate in the history of our country”, he added.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the writer’s death, Milan has promoted a schedule of events involving the main cultural institutions of the city, from Casa Manzoni to the Duomo and the Pinacoteca di Brera. “It is therefore a precious occasion, which will be inaugurated today by the visit of the President of the Republic to Casa Manzoni to reaffirm the gratitude that Italy and its language want to pay to this great son of our city”, concluded the mayor .
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