“The National Alpine Association honors and regrets General Claudio Graziano. A very high profile figure, he perfectly embodied the spirit and qualities of the Alpine soldier throughout his long and brilliant career as a servant of his country – so in a note Sebastiano Favero President of the National Alpine Association –
Piedmontese, who entered the black pens by youthful vocation, nourished by reading the masterpieces of the most famous authors in our history, from Giulio Bedeschi to Mario Rigoni Stern, passing through Nuto Revelli, Graziano has traveled all the stages that led him, with the Alpine hat always proudly at the head, at the top of the Army, Italian and European Defense, to recently reach the prestigious position of president of Fincantieri, a fundamental strategic asset of our country.
Claudio Graziano stood out as a brilliant, humane and far-sighted commander in numerous missions abroad, starting with the one in Mozambique in 1993 with “his” Susa Battalion, the last mission entrusted to the Alpine conscripts, in the thirty-year anniversary and in the memory of which the ANA has started the construction of a church in Pemba, a city in the tormented African country.
He had the opportunity to distinguish himself for the ability of his command action even in the very delicate Lebanese theater, where his mediation skills excelled, obtained thanks to his charisma and uncommon qualities of balance. And he also gained decisive experience in Afghanistan, where in 2005 he commanded the international brigade in the Kabul sector.
Precisely by virtue of this background, when he reached the top of the Army in 2011 he worked to improve its equipment, training and capabilities and, chosen at the top of the Defense, from 2015 to 2018, he gave an important acceleration to the concepts of inter-force operability.
Always closely linked to the reality of our Association, of which he was a member, Claudio Graziano had also been with us in the May days of the grandiose national gathering in Vicenza, receiving the homage of the Alpine generals in service, starting with that of the general . Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, who had greeted him as his “master” at the Teatro Olimpico.
His energetic Alpine character was ultimately marked only by the long illness and the recent death of his beloved wife, Marisa, his inseparable life companion.
Having in my heart the image of the many wonderful occasions shared, therefore, on my personal behalf and that of the entire Association that I represent, I embrace, honoring his memory, the figure of Claudio in the most affectionate and grateful Alpine embrace” – concludes Sebastiano Favero President of the National Alpine Association
