An unusual dress was worn by Cristiano De Andrè yesterday morning in Asti among the public who participated in the ceremony on 25 April organized by the Europa Duemila Association in the Gilberto Barbero garden.
If he is super used to measuring himself with the extraordinary figure of his father Fabrizio, one of the most loved Italian singer-songwriters of all time, the Asti event was the first time, according to his own statement, in which his grandfather, Giuseppe De, was honored and remembered. André.
The heroism of Giuseppe De Andrè as a normal citizen was outlined by Luigi Florio, president of the Association: a professor of literature in Genoa, he helped many of his Jewish students to hide and escape racial persecution. «The fascists suspected that he was violating the racial laws – said Florio – and for this reason, in 1944 he had his family move to Asti, to the house in Revignano that Fabrizio remembered many times together with his friendship with Nina Manfieri and which, years later, inspired more than one song in him.”
De Andrè remained in Genoa and continued this work of covering his students, saving many of them. When one day the fascists showed up at school to arrest him, he managed to escape and join his family in Revignano where he remained hidden in an inaccessible cellar made available to him by a Jewish family, almost as thanks for what he did in Genoa.
After the war the whole family returned to Genoa where Giuseppe also held a mandate as deputy mayor. He left school and embarked on a brilliant industrial career.
Luigi Florio has also officially announced that, together with the De Andrè family, he will be interested in starting the process of recognizing his grandfather Giuseppe as Righteous among the Nations.
«I am very moved by this recognition in memory of my grandfather – Cristiano said yesterday at the ceremony – I also adored him because I spent a lot of time, as a child, with him and with my grandmother. My parents often left me with them for work reasons and I lived a childhood in luxury, even if I didn’t recognize its importance at the time.”
Also because “grandfather Giuseppe”, as often happens, reserved much more time and understanding for Cristiano than he reserved for his son Fabrizio. «Along with boundless affection, I received the most beautiful gifts of my life from him. And I’m not talking about expensive objects – said Cristiano – For example, he took me to Paris with my grandmother and made me eat in the great French restaurants, introducing me to another world. And then the unforgettable trip to Lausanne, where, in a wonderful hotel on the lake, he introduced me to Charlie Chaplin with his numerous grandchildren around him. Chaplin, I believe certainly at the advance request of my grandfather, saw me, called me to him, smiled at me, made me sit on his lap and, putting on two sandwiches, gave me the Gold Rush ballet.”
Alongside Cristiano also Nina Manfieri, “that” Nina sung by Fabrizio De Andrè and whom he always spoke of as the first great friend of his life.
«It was a difficult period but of great unity and we shared everything. It should happen today too. Looking at Cristiano I feel like I’m seeing Fabrizio again » she said excitedly speaking at the ceremony dedicated to Giuseppe De Andrè which she still remembers very well.
But the meeting in the Barbero garden was also dedicated to another great figure: Umberto Grilli, a socialist, born in Grosseto but who arrived in Asti in 1921 after the fascists had burned down his house, his lawyer’s office and had terrorized his family. He arrived in Asti invited by the socialists who made available to him the accommodation that had been inhabited by Annibale Vigna, the first socialist mayor of the city.
Grilli, the Constituent Father, was responsible for the amendment that removes the adjective “indissoluble” after the word marriage, from the art. 29 of the Constitution, thus leaving the door open to the divorce law that would be approved many years later.
During the war and then the Resistance, it was his articles, published in various socialist newspapers, that attracted complaints and “surveillance” so much so that he had to hide in Santa Caterina di Rocca d’Arazzo.
His complete biography can be read on this card deposited at the Israt of Asti.
Yesterday morning at the ceremony during which his figure was sketched by Paola Barbero, his nephew, Fabrizio Poncini, was present.
(Ago photo report)
