The Bonamorone cemetery in Agrigento hosted the commemorative ceremony of the 91st anniversary of the death of Captain Alexander Hardcastle, which occurred on 26 June 1933. Doing the honors was the president of Cepasa, Paolo Cilona, who since 1984 has done his utmost passion and spirit of self-denial in disseminating the work carried out in Agrigento from 1921 to 1933 by the illustrious patron Hardcastle, defined by the well-known archaeologist Pirro Marconi as a “cultured and generous person”. Various representatives of the institutions spoke, such as the delegate of the prefect Filippo Romano, Michelangelo Sardo; the emeritus president of the Society of Homeland History, Attilio Dalli Cardillo; the head teacher Francesco Curaba; the delegate of the National Order of Chivalric Honors Etta Milioto; the president of the “Luigi Pirandello” literary park Bernardo Barone; the manager of the regional tourism office Antonella Bonsignore; the writer Enzo Di Natali; the national councilor of the Pro Loco of Italy, scholars and lovers of the work of the English captain.
After a long speech, Paolo Cilona hoped for greater attention from the Municipality to protect the tomb whose perimeter walls are badly damaged, with the risk of involving the cemetery area. It has been announced that for 2025, on the occasion of Agrigento being the Italian capital of culture, a European-level conference will be dedicated to Hardcastle with the participation of the British ambassador in Rome.
The poets Stella Camillieri, Liliana Arrigo, Giuseppina Mira, Vera Di Francesco and Vincenzo Galvano also spoke at the ceremony and recited beautiful lyrics and various compositions in memory of Alexander Hardcastle. Also on this occasion Paolo Cilona managed to create a continuum between past, present and future to make the new generations aware of historical memory.
