A press conference was held today at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome to present initiatives to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi’s birth. These include an award for scientific innovation, conferences, an exhibition, and a commemorative stamp that will be unveiled on April 25 at Villa Griffone in Pontecchio Marconi, Bologna. In addition, a miniseries dedicated to Marconi starring actors Nicolas Maupas and Stefano Accorsi will be aired on Rai1 on May 20 and 21.
The press conference was attended by Lucia Borgonzoni, Undersecretary for Culture; Giulia Fortunato, President of the Marconi Foundation and the National Committee for the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi; Simona Casonato, Curator of the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology; Helga Cossu, Director General of the Leonardo Foundation, Civilization of Machines; Giovanni Paoloni, historian of Science and professor of archives at Sapienza University of Rome; and Alessandro Vanelli Coralli, professor of engineering at Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna. Also participating through a written message and video message were RAI Director General Giampaolo Rossi and Sapienza Chancellor Antonella Polimeni.
After thanks from GNAM director Renata Cristina Mazzantini, Borgonzoni emphasized, “For being able to anticipate the future, imprinting with his insights as a scientist and his skills as an entrepreneur a turning point in history in this year of special celebrations and beyond, Nobel Laureate Guglielmo Marconi deserves to be remembered as one of the most illustrious Italians, in Italy and abroad.” Adding how the planned initiatives aim to highlight the ‘illustrious inventor !involving old and new fans from all over the world but also capturing the attention of younger people.”
In his message, Giampaolo Rossi also highlighted how “Marconi connected the world and thanks to his invention laid the foundation for what will be a media with timeless appeal that Rai has the merit of having made over the years a central reference “public service” in people’s daily lives.
These and many other initiatives will take place over the months, culminating on Sept. 26 with World Day dedicated to Guglielmo Marconi, with an international program in collaboration with MAECI and the Italian Cultural Institutes. Events to celebrate Marconi are also planned in Osaka, Japan, London in collaboration with the BBC, In New York, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Jeddah and Barcelona.
