Italian Language Week at the National Library of Georgia

(ANSA) - MOSCA, 14 OTT - The first event celebrating the 26th Week of the Italian Language in the World took place at the historic National Library of Georgia. This initiative, launched in 2001 through an agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Accademia della Crusca, with the subsequent support of the Swiss Confederation, which takes place annually under the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic and aims to promote Italy’s linguistic and cultural heritage abroad. Each Week is dedicated to a different theme, which serves as the central thread for a rich program of conferences, exhibitions, and meetings. The 26th edition of SLIM, dedicated to the theme “A Brilliant Language: Conceiving, Designing, and Creating with Italian,” aims to explore the deep connection between our language, culture, and creativity. In Georgia, the Week of the Italian Language in the World began with a symposium conceived by the Italian Embassy, supported by Silk Hospitality, and organized in coordination with the Committee of the Dante Alighieri Society of Tbilisi to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. The symposium, titled “The Roots of Universal Humanism and the Great Precursors of the Renaissance” and inaugurated by Italian Ambassador Massimiliano D’Antuono and the Director of the National Library of Georgia, Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, featured as speakers, among others, Davide Rondoni, an Italian poet, writer, and playwright; David Magradze, Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy, a renowned Georgian poet and winner of various literary awards who is well-known and beloved in Italy; and Pierluigi Vercesi, an Italian journalist and author of historical essays. “We decided to dedicate the symposium to two important anniversaries: the 26th Week of the Italian Language in the World and the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi,” said Ambassador D’Antuono. “The idea to organize this event arose during the visit to Tbilisi by the Secretary General of the Dante Alighieri Society, Prof. Alessandro Masi, who presented the Georgian audience with the keynote lecture ‘Italian Triptych: Giotto, Francis, Dante, and the Birth of Italian Humanism.’ To explore these themes further, we have brilliant speakers here today who will speak to us about the great Italian and Georgian figures who have profoundly shaped the history of Humanism, paving the way toward modernity.” The true highlight of the event—attended by Giorgi Gabunia, Chairman of the Cultural Committee of the Parliament of Georgia; Monsignor Giuseppe Pasotto, Apostolic Administrator of the Caucasus for the Latins; and numerous enthusiasts of the Italian language and culture, was the priceless 1481 incunabulum of the Divine Comedy, housed at the Book Museum of the National Library of Georgia—the only 15th-century edition printed in Florence, the homeland of the Supreme Poet. This extremely rare edition (of which approximately 180 surviving copies are held in major libraries and collections around the world) was displayed specifically for the symposium held at the National Library of Georgia.
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