identification
twelve o’clock, October 21, 2021 – 12:39 pm
The ceremony this morning at Studium 2000. The British actress, Oscar winner with The Queen, has lived for over ten years in a farm in Tiggiano, in southern Salento.
from Cinzia Semeraro
Actress Helen Mirren became “Ambassador of the University of Salento” this morning: the award ceremony took place in the “Mario Marti” classroom of building 6 of the Studium 2000 complex. The Oscar winner appeared very enthusiastic about the award : «The Salento people are a strong people because they have experienced Xylella and Covid». For some years the actress has been spending frequent and long stays in Salento, where with her husband, the director Taylor Hackford, she bought a farm in Tiggiano. The recognition “Ambassador of the University of Salento” was conceived by the University with a double purpose: on the one hand, UniSalento thus signals personalities active in business, research and culture who have made excellence, innovation and internationalization the keys to their daily commitment, capable of enhancing and promoting human skills and material resources; on the other hand, the task of the “Ambassadors” is to promote knowledge of the University of Salento and its initiatives at institutions, bodies and organizations interested in forms of collaboration and contact with the University.
The actress: “This land is my home”
«It is an honor for me, I am happy to receive this recognition. I love Salento, this land holds an important place in my heart because it has become my home. I will make myself available to contribute to the realization of the University’s projects ». An excited Helen Mirren received from the rector Fabio Pollice the nomination as ambassador of the University of Salento with a parchment and the seal of the University set in a base of Lecce stone, one of the symbolic elements of the territory. “For me it is significant to be in front of these students – said the Oscar-winning actress – in a territory that has had to face another pandemic in addition to Covid, that of xylella. They belong to one of the most important generations of the last 30/40 years and I hope my commitment can help them ».
The rector Fabio Pollice speaks
“We are sure that it will protect the interests of this land because we have seen it fight alongside us to reconstruct the beauty of our landscape marred by xylella, – said the rector Pollice motivating the choice – because we read in his gaze the love for this land, for its history, for its humanity. Trusting in his precious collaboration, we want to carry out a sustainable regeneration project of agriculture and the Salento landscape so as to make this territory a laboratory of sustainability, an example for the whole Mediterranean basin ». “We are convinced that it will be able to support us in our internationalization project, Unisalent4Talents, helping us to build collaborative relationships with other universities, with other territories”.
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Helen Mirren at the University of Salento
The international assignment
The appointment of the well-known actress is on the proposal of the Department of History, Society and Studies on Man, which thus intended to underline the artist’s close link with Salento, of which with commitment and on several occasions he has defended and promoted the historical heritage , cultural, environmental and landscape. The rector Fabio Pollice, the communication delegate Stefano Cristante and the Director of the Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Mariano Longo took part in the ceremony. Of British origin, Helen Mirren was trained as a Shakespearean interpreter obtaining important successes on the English and American theatrical scenes. In cinema he has held important roles in numerous films directed by great directors, including an Academy Award (for the part of Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears’ “The Queen”), three Golden Globes, four Bafta awards, five Screen Actors Guilds. Awards, four Emmy Awards.
21 October 2021 | 12:39
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