In the early nineties, the move from Rubbianello to Grottammare marked the beginning of a journey of discovery and growth for Michela Mercuri, today a well-known face on television, expert on the Middle East, university professor, speaker and writer. «When my family and I moved to Grottammare, a city to which I am very attached and where I have my dearest affections, so much so that I never miss the opportunity to return since I live in Milan – she says – I started attending middle schools in Via Toscanini. The impact with a new reality, for me coming from a small provincial town, was not easy. Some of my peers were already frequenting clubs in San Benedetto, they had a more enterprising life than mine, accustomed to other dynamics.” But in her new class Michela di lei immediately feels welcomed and supported by her classmates and teachers, in particular by the Italian teacher, Silvestrini, who passed away some time ago, who gave her confidence and self-esteem.
Writing
«He told me that I had a great talent for writing, he loved and appreciated what I wrote. So I started to open up through writing where I placed my feelings, in that moment I was truly myself and my mask disappeared. And this attitude to writing today is part of my work.” The geopolitical expert was 12 or 13 years old when she started riding her grandfather’s scooter, a Mini Califo, on the way home. Two years later, it was 1991, her first Sì Piaggio arrived. «It was my high school years and on Saturday evenings it happened that together with some of my friends we went dancing at the Atlantide disco in San Benedetto. I had to get back at two, but I invented the most imaginative excuses to stay until three. Luckily my dad was a heavy sleeper so he didn’t notice anything, while my mum covered me.” Enrolled in the Leopardi Classical High School, the first years of high school were not easy for her.
The courtships
«I had a few extra kilos, I didn’t completely accept my physique, so I always tried to remain aloof, I didn’t socialize much, and all this was also reflected in my academic performance. Then around the age of 16, as I grew up and matured physically, something changed in me, others began to look at me differently. It was the time of the first courtships, but all this changed very little in my mind, I still wasn’t happy with myself. We still talk to some classmates today, we have a group chat, and sometimes we happen to be together.” In 1996 you enrolled in the degree course in Political Sciences at the University of Macerata. «During these years of study I discovered my passion for geopolitics.
Thanks also to Professor Vittorio Emanuele Pazzi with whom I did my thesis and who asked me to deal with the Mediterranean. At first I wasn’t convinced, but then I became passionate about it. But the real turning point came when the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan, where I completed my doctorate, sent me to Beirut for the year to be spent abroad and which is part of the training process. . It was 2005 and that very year there was a revolt in this Lebanese city: Hezbollah took power, so I discovered a different dimension of the fractures, fragilities and inconsistencies of this portion of the world. Experiencing the war first hand stimulated me to get to know the world.”
The travels
From the second half of the nineties and up to the early 2000s, Michela, despite her commitments related to study and university, never missed the opportunity to travel, as when she went to Morocco with some friends or to frequent the clubs of the so-called “Milano da drinking”. «Even if I happened to go to bed late in the evening, in the morning I get up to go to class. Those were different times, and I was even younger – smiles Professor Michela Mercuri – If I succeeded in my studies and in my profession I also owe it to my parents who have always encouraged and supported me”.
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