Ivrea, between stories and images 100 years of Alpine history

The Ana section of Ivrea at the center of the latest book by Margherita Barsimi Sala. On 1 January 1921 it was already operational, was chaired by Pietro Balocco

IVREA. Margherita Barsimi Sala worked for over a year, addressing in-depth research in local archives and consulting books and a wealth of articles published in the newspapers of the territory, to attend to the writing of her “100 years of history of the Ana Section of Ivrea”, published by Bolognino Editore, a book requested by the section itself to which, as a sign of friendship, in 2021, she had donated her book Il Carnevale di Mary, also published by Bolognino, so that the proceeds were destined to support the Civil Protection Ana sectional .

A book that is aimed at everyone: “For those – explains the author – for a shorter or longer period of their life, who wore a hat with a black pen and for those who, conversely, could not live an experience that , for how many negative aspects it might present, it could have, in any case, been formative, but which new laws have decreed to be useless and outdated. A history book of the Alpine troops of Ivrea, on the other hand, could be interesting for those who, having the desire to get closer to the Canavese and Ivrea cultural and social heritage, will become aware of it through the memory of the many, very often anonymous, who have constituted the connective tissue, made up of traditions and a spirit of identity “. The work is embellished by a rich photographic kit, also because, Barsimi emphasizes, “a book that spans at least one hundred years of history must be able to evoke situations, places and faces not only thanks to detailed descriptions, but also to authentic images and, in the absence of these, to artist reconstructions. On the one hand, therefore, postcards and vintage images made available by collector friends with a great collaborative spirit, on the other, two tables created by as many artists who each created their own vision of Ivrea at the time of the barracks ” .

The documentary appendix, edited by the journalist Paolo Querio, director of the sectional newspaper Lo Scarpone Canavesano, is also very interesting, containing the presentation cards of the sixty-five Groups that make up the Section, containing the essential data and news relating to the foundation of each one. An operation, the one carried out by Querio with the various managers, very useful for the collection and safeguarding of information that would have risked disappearing forever. “A book – concludes Barsimi – that starts from an unspecified evening in 1920, in which the group of Ivorian veterans of the First World War decided to meet, following the example of the others who had already done so in Milan, in Turin , in Intra and Verona. Ivrea was, then, a small city, which lived its daily life strongly connected, perhaps more than others, to the capillary presence of the military. On January 1, 1921, the Ivrea Section, chaired by Pietro Balocco, was already operational and, two years later, ready to take on the honor and the burden of hosting the 4th National Congress and to open up to what was the first century of a historya glorious that continues to our days “. “100 years of history of the Ana di Ivrea Section” will be presented on Friday 9 September, at 9 pm, at the Giacosa Theater, with the participation of the sectional choir and fanfare.