An event organized by the Corriere della Sera Foundation and conducted by Melograni’s wife, Paola Severini, paid tribute to the historian and essayist, who was also the signature of the via Solferino newspaper
Piero Melograni (1930-2012) was a man of spirit. He looked at the facts of life with serene irony. And surely he would have appreciated the decision to close the meeting in his memory held on November 17 in Milan at the Buzzati room of the «Corriere» with a dialogue between two satirical authors, Enrico Bertolino and Stefano Disegni, who snatched smiles and laughter from the audience with their jokes.
After all, the book that provided the inspiration for the event, the Essay on the powerful by Melograni, published in 1977 and just re-proposed by the publisher Einaudi, conveys the fundamental message that dictators and statesmen should not be taken too seriously, because their ability to influence human affairs is much lower than what is commonly believed. The public was able to hear these concepts from the Roman historian’s own words in a short film screened in the hall.
Conducted by Melograni’s wife, Paola Severini, and organized by the Corriere della Sera Foundation, the meeting was opened by the Councilor for Culture of the Lombardy Region, Stefano Bruno Galli, who recalled the usefulness of the choice made by Melograni to translate the Principe from Niccolo Machiavelli in modern Italian, to make it more accessible. And the president of the Corriere Foundation also insisted on this point, Piergaetano Marchetti, recalling how Melograni has always tried, in journalistic articles, but also in books, to address a vast audience, avoiding the excessive specialisms in which academics often fall.
A Luciano Fontana, editor of “Corriere”, was given the task of recalling the contribution made by Melograni, from 1975 to 2010, as the signature of the newspaper in via Solferino, with a freedom of thought and judgment that enabled him to change his opinion when the facts required it and with a sensitivity that would have made him very attentive also to recent developments in the dimension digital.
His articles enriched the daily cultural offer, as well as the collection of his papers, donated by Paola Severini, will soon enrich the Corriere Foundation archive. For the occasion, the portrait of Melograni will be added, on the walls of via Solferino, to the gallery of the faces of those who best represented the «Corriere».
Less tied to the figure of Melograni, but very attentive to the evolution of power relations in his world of relevance, was the intervention of Luigi De Siervo, managing director of the Serie A Football League, who outlined an interesting itinerary of relations between sport and politics, up to the entry into football of the great oil powers of the Middle East, starting from Hitler’s disappointment for the medals won by Jesse Owens at the Berlin Olympics.
That was one of the many cases in which the despots’ expectations are not fulfilled. Because history, Melograni warned, usually takes unpredictable paths, while leaders are men and as such always fallible.
November 17, 2021 (change November 17, 2021 | 21:10)
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