One hundred years after the death of Giacomo Matteotti, the Municipality of La Spezia together with the Municipality of Sarzana and the Provincial Unitary Committee of the Resistance has dedicated a series of initiatives to the figure of the Italian politician to celebrate this anniversary. “With the celebrations for the hundred years since the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti killed by a group of fascist squadristi in Rome on 10 June 1924 – declares the mayor Pierluigi Peracchini – we remember a figure who with great courage and a sense of duty denounced in Parliament the fascist violence and fraud in the elections of that year and who, even today, represents an example for all of us, in particular for those who hold public offices, and reminds us the importance of defending the values of freedom and democracy by fighting strenuously starting from the institutional settings where these principles must be the cornerstone of all administrative action.”
“We will experience together the centenary of a painful historical event: the brutal murder of a man from the institutions who was a victim of fascist squadrism. A fact that has marked an entire country and is particularly significant for the city of Sarzana, which named its main square after Giacomo Matteotti – declares the mayor of Sarzana Cristina Ponzanelli -. We are proud to share this celebration with all citizens and in particular of the participation of the students of our city schools who dedicated themselves to writing a composition dedicated to the figure of Matteotti. Sharing and transferring to young generations the inestimable value of democratic principles and freedoms, and making them aware of the tragic consequences of authoritarian regimes is a mission and duty of every administrator and every citizen. Freedom is never conquered definitively, it must be defended and preserved every day, and this is also one way to do it, all together.”
“The initiatives organized in recent days on this occasion are an opportunity to reflect on the real nature of fascism, on the violent and persecutory character that it had since 1919, and on the perennial relevance of democratic values – they say Giorgio Pagano, Paolo Galantini and Egidio Banti, Co-Presidents of the Provincial Unitary Committee of the Resistance -. They must also serve to better understand one of the main personalities of Italian politics, committed to workers’ rights, in the battle for peace to prevent the country from entering the Great War, in the opposition against any compromise of parties and unions with the newborn regime. In the centenary it is necessary to rediscover the relevance of a far-sighted politician in understanding the importance of workers’ unity, the gravity of the attacks on the function of Parliament, the crisis of an institutional system which had its epicenter in Italy and then tragically spread to Europe .”
Monday 10 June at 5pm a first event will take place in the Council Room of the Municipality of Sarzana in which the Mayor Cristiana Ponzanelli will bring institutional greetings and followed by Paolo Galantini, Co-President of the Unitary Committee of the Resistance, who will introduce the Lectio magistralis on the figure of Giacomo Matteotti held by the Hon Valdo Spini, President of the Rosselli Brothers Foundation. At the end there will be an awards ceremony for the students of the lower secondary school – Istituto Comprensivo ISA 13 and of the Istituto Superiore Statale Parentucelli Arzelà who produced the most interesting work on the figure of Giacomo Matteotti.
Tuesday 11 June at 5.30pm at Sala Dante in via Ugo Bassi in La Spezia, a conference will be held by Giovanni Scirocco, historian and professor at the University of Bergamo entitled “Matteotti. the Last Speech”. The day will be opened by the mayor of La Spezia and Egidio Banti, Co-President of the Unitary Committee of the Resistance.
