Elvira Mancuso passed away in Miami at the age of 78.
A very important exponent of the Alessandria cultural panorama, with prestigious roles at the helm of the “defunct” Municipal Theater, of the Poetry Biennale, involved in politics in Berlusconi’s new party, a woman of great intuition, always projected forward, towards the future, she also gave a lot to the world of schools, for years head teacher of the De Amicis primary school.
And this is where my memories and shared experiences come from, with this woman who was not always easy-going, but determined to give her best.
Elvira came to school with colorful dresses and long scarves draped over her shoulder, in a vaguely ethnic but always extremely refined style completed with perfectly matched dangling earrings and necklaces.
We were at the beginning of the 2000s, at the first teachers’ college he woke us up from a sort of lethargy, forcing us to develop ideas and projects and submit them to him.
A lover and expert in poetry and contemporary art, she would always give priority to this type of project.
His office was full of colored pictures, incomprehensible to most, but of extreme value for his poetic soul: when they were removed, after his retirement, it seemed to me like the death of a colorful and creative era for my school.
I had a specialization in relational psychomotricity, and when he found out about it, in a few days he equipped me with a classroom that I called QUA SI GIOCA and entrusted me with a 100-hour project, something completely unthinkable today.
Those were the years of outings and projects without hesitation, we were always out and about gaining experiences, learning on the job, going around the city with our long lines of smiling and colorful students… without BLACK aprons.
He even gave us a trip to Volpedo, to the places of the great Pellizza.
My son attended primary school in those years, and what he is today he also owes it to her.
As far as I’m concerned, he also entrusted me with the role of contact person for the inclusion of immigrants and we created splendid initiatives. I owe her a lot, on a human and professional level, perhaps today I resemble her a little… and I only realize it now that her passion for her life has gone out forever.
Hello, Elvira, I want to greet you with those verses by Hikmet that I dedicated to you upon your arrival at de Amicis:
THE NIGHT IS OVER.
YOU ARE THE LIGHT AND THE MORNING.
I like:
I like Loading…
