The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, arrived at Palazzo Madama to participate in the initiatives planned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first session (May 8, 1948) of the Senate. To welcome the Head of State, upon his arrival, the president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa. Shortly before he had entered Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The conference will be held at 11.30 in the Chamber ‘The Senate in the history of republican Italy’ with Stefano Folli, Anna Finocchiaro, Ernesto Galli della Loggia and Giuseppe Parlato e, to follow, there will be a concert with Gianni Morandi, live TV on Rai2. The President of the Constitutional Court will also be present at the event in the Chamber, Silvana Sciarra, the vice president of the Chamber, Giorgio Mulè, the president of the Knesset, the life senators Liliana Segre and Mario Monti.
The anthem of the Italians, by Goffredo Mameli, which opens the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Senate of the Republic was sung by Gianni Morandi. At the end, the president Ignazio La Russa thanked Morandi – “an icon of Italian song” – for the “personal interpretation” of the national anthem.
“I felt this celebration was necessary, to recall that with the first session of the Senate, together with the Constitutional Charter, the people once again became protagonists of their own destiny. The senators elected directly by the people went to honor the Senate which was a garrison of the first part of the Constitution”. “Today is not only our 75th but also Israel’s and I asked my friend Amir Ohana to honor us with his presence. Thank you for being here and celebrating Italy’s and Israel’s 75th anniversary with us”. The president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, said this in the Chamber as he opened the ceremony for the 75th anniversary of the first session of Palazzo Madama in the presence, among others, of the head of state, Sergio Mattarella, and of the premier Giorgia Meloni. Immediately afterwards La Russa said goodbye in person Ohana who is the Speaker of the Knesset of Israel.
The president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, in a short impromptu speech, thanked the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the other authorities present in the Chamber for the 75th anniversary of the first sitting of the Republic. Among the authorities present to whom La Russa addressed were the premier Giorgia Meloni, the president of the Constitutional Court Silvana Sciarra, the vice president of the Chamber Giorgio Mulè and senators for life. “A special greeting – she added to the applause of those present – I give to Senator Liliana Segre who honors us with her presence”.
With “Un mondo d’amore”, one of Gianni Morandi’s hits most loved by the public, it began in the Senate Hall the concert by Morandi himself for the 75th anniversary of the Senate of the Republic. “The emotion is there”, Morandi confessed immediately after the first piece, recalling how when the first session of the Senate was held in 1948 he “was already three years old”. The next song, with a leap of decades, was “Apri tutti le porte”, sung in 2022 in Sanremo.
Yesterday the party for the 75th anniversary of the Senate and the Constitution, opened by the president Ignazio LaRussa, in a Piazza Navona crowded with Romans and tourists. A people’s party and a concert by the joint band in full uniform, which began with the Mameli Hymn to the surprise of tourists and Romans, with the tricolor flags to wave offered by Palazzo Madama, illuminated of green, white and red.
The party continues today with the celebration of the first session in ’48, in the ceremony with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the premier Giorgia Meloni in the Senate Hall and with a concert by Gianni Morandi. In Sala Maccari shortly before they will be presented by the minister Adolfo Urso coins and stamps dedicated to the anniversary.
ANSA agency
“A stamp to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first session of the Senate of the Republic by universal suffrage. An important date for our country rich in values such as freedom, democracy, independence and rebirth. Italy is also starting afresh from its history”. (HANDLE)
Meanwhile, yesterday, in the shadow of Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers – in the square where in Roman times there was the stadium of Domitian for horse racing and athletics and in the Middle Ages jousts, races and jousting tournaments – the open folk festival from Rossini’s Magpie, with music by Morricone, the ‘Va pensiero’ from Verdi’s Nabucco, Nino Rota and his Fellinian compositions, Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, the famous Rugantino. Directed by Major Pantaleo Leonfranco Cammarano, with 75 musicians from the bands of the various armed corps, army, navy, air force, carabinieri and financial police, all in full uniform.
“The effective date is important, because 75 years ago there was the first session of the Senate elected directly by the people by universal suffrage and also to celebrate the relevance of the values of the Senate and the Constitution, such as freedom, democracy, independence. It is very nice to celebrate them together with everyone, with the Italians. It was my will to have the band go out towards Piazza Navona, a way to worthily celebrate this which is a people’s anniversary, “said La Russa in the courtyard of honor of the Senate before to walk to Piazza Navona.