There are 106 candles blown out by Maria Mingolla, a Cesena native who celebrated her birthday yesterday surrounded by family and friends. Furthermore, the councilor for Services for people and families Carmelina Labruzzo also took part in the celebrations and sent her fellow citizen the best wishes of the municipal administration by bringing her a scarf as a gift. Mrs. Maria’s last year, supported by her children Milvia and Sergio Romagnoli, was not very easy. Her house, located in via ex Tiro a Segno, was flooded on the afternoon of Tuesday 16 May 2023 and became uninhabitable. At that point she was hosted in some facilities for the elderly in the city until arriving at the “Maria Fantini” home where she currently resides.
Born on 24 June 1918 in the Ponte Vecchio area, Mrs. Maria grew up in boarding school and once she reached adulthood she was hired at Arrigoni and later at the Casadei fruit warehouses. “Every day – she also recalled on this occasion – I reached the factories on foot, then they gave me the bicycle with which I was able to reach every corner of the city. Then her wedding to Francesco Romagnoli in 1941 and Italy’s entry into the war. “They were complicated years for all of us, there was no shortage of difficulties but we were privileged: we always worked at the family bakery”, she comments. Once she reached retirement she began to travel and dedicate herself to the people closest to her.
“We are happy – he comments councilor Carmelina Labruzzo – to be able to celebrate year after year the new goals of Mrs. Maria Mingolla, one of the doyennes of the Cesena population. It is a privilege for us to be able to represent the city on these special occasions in which past and present come back into dialogue thanks to the stories of our centenarian fellow citizens. Their venerable age bears witness to a precious heritage of traditions, cultural and civil values that they have passed on to their loved ones and which represent a model for all of us to follow.”
To date, there are 35 over-centenarian residents in Cesena: 31 women (represented by the doyen Maria Mingolla) and 4 men (the oldest was born on 14 August 1919).
