He had always been proud of his Tobagi Club, a place of recreation for many members, but above all a great little laboratory of local, home-made politics. He had founded it and often, taking the opportunity to comment on my articles, he reminded me, by writing to me, how, especially in the First Republic, he had “held the spotlight” with strategies, alliances and confrontations with the various leading exponents of politics. He invited politicians, journalists, common people into his circle, with whom he knew how to deal, being himself a representative of that simple, frank, loyal people.
Antonio Cirillo, one of the oldest exponents of Tranese politics, has passed away. After his professional adventure as a school assistant, especially at the Petronelli school, his great passion had always been politics. He didn’t like turns of phrase or subterfuge: he loved, as a good Calabrian, another of his personal prides, the word given and respected, the handshake that was worth more than a thousand written agreements, the language without big words but which got straight to the point .
In recent years, again through his Circolo Tobagi, he has tried to valorise young people or in any case those who deserved, in his opinion, to be in politics because they had value or knew how to bring votes, a basic element, no point in denying it, without too much hypocrisy , for those who enter this “our” environment.
I remember when, particularly amused by my articles, he sent me privately, to make fun of me but also to demonstrate his affection, dozens of photos of cured meats and typical Calabrian products. He was like that and he liked not to take himself too seriously, without taking himself too seriously. We will miss him and now his son Luigi, currently a city councilor, will definitively take up his legacy at the Tobagi Club. Hi Tonino.
(The body will remain, until the funeral ceremony, at the Casa Funeraria Delfini in via Papa Giovanni XXIII).
