Linda went back to school. Eighty-six years ago, in 1938, Linda Olivetti Kohenthirteen year old from Milan, she was expelled from Beccaria high schoolwhere he attended the “third lower gymnasium”, the equivalent of eighth grade. Her crime was being Jewish. Like her, 19 other students were shown the door (including a student who did not have Jewish origins, but who had dared not to stand up in the presence of a fascist hierarch). Linda, what sails towards 100 springs (he will have his birthday on October 24th), he was saved from deportation fleeing with his family first to Buenos Aires. Today lives in Uruguay.
An internationally renowned painter, she is currently participating in the Venice Biennale. Friday, during the «Classical high school night», returned to Beccaria, welcomed by the affection of the students and professors, in a meeting also attended by the councilor for civic services Gaia Romani and the representatives of the Anpi. Smiles and emotion when he saw the registers with his name and his excellent grades: all 7s and 8s. He received a plaque from his high school as a gift.
«I have always kept Beccaria very dear to my heart» he told the boys, recommending them to «always be themselves, be honest and work hard». An evening to rewrite a page in the dark history of Milanese high school. «A symbolic compensation. The real compensation is our Constitution” says the principal Laura Gambawhich awarded Linda Olivetti Kohen as an example of “courage, resilience and for the artistic merits achieved”.
On stage, the artist reminisced about those days as a student. Among her schoolmates there were also the brother, Mariohey cousins, Linda and Cesare Treves. «My favorite subject was Latin. With my cousin I loved going skating at the Ice Palace” says Linda in the margin, al Courier. «I continued to hear from my classmates for some time after I was expelled. Then, the world is big and we got lost » she explains, moved.
His grades were very good, only in geography was a 6, but only in the first quarter. «Some things should be kept secret» she jokes on stage, adding: «Then I personally went around the world». Today he lives in Montevideo. The Olivettis, a family of Piedmontese origin belonging to the oldest Italian Jewish community, they managed to emigrate to Buenos Aires, where Linda’s father, an engineer with a passion for painting, had acquaintances. «I was lucky enough to escape, many others were unable to do so and ended up much worse. How many concentration camps and how many killed, these horrible things have happened and I fear that in other countries today they continue to happen» underlined the artist.
In Argentina, Linda would have liked to continue her classical studies, but was unable to do so because the family no longer obtained her Italian documents. «I studied at the English school and there I also learned painting». Since she was a child she had demonstrated great artistic talent, culminating in an international career. But she has also hosted a fashion television program and wrote books, including one with recipes. “We shouldn’t forget those of our grandmothers.” The artist loves Milan, a city where relatives and friends still live. «My father was a “Milanese”, Carlo Porta was read a lot in my house. Milan occupies a huge part in my heart” he said. In October 2023, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella appointed her Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic.
The idea of inviting her to Beccaria came to the teachers after an initiative for the Remembrance Day, promoted last January by the high school and the Anpi, Codè Montagnani-Marelli section. On that occasion it was explained to the students the school life of their peers in the years of fascism, starting from documents in the school archives. Documents collected and analyzed 20 years earlier by groups of students coordinated by a history professor. It was also there in those pages the story of Linda and her schoolmates. The testimonies of the descendants of the expelled students and a video where Linda remembered those days were the highlight, which saw the students very involved and interested. Having learned that the artist would participate in the Biennial, her high school extended an invitation to her which led to the exceptional meeting with the students. «Memory with events like this means reflect on the past, but what about what we have in front of us: the problems of anti-Semitism and racism are not overcome. Furthermore, this year, April 25th falls at a time when war, a word we thought we would no longer have to hear, continues to exist. And there is the risk of a war that could spread like wildfire” underlined the president of Anpi Milano Primo Minelli.
