2021 comes to an end and it is time to take stock of the initiatives held in the Republic to remember and honor the figure and work of Dante Alighieri on the anniversary of the seventh centenary of his death. It begins with the constitution of the San Marino Committee for the celebrations of the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri. Mindful in the country of the homonymous Committee established in 1921, it was created with the aim of promoting, coordinating and organizing celebratory events, including, under the aegis of the Secretariat of State for Education and Culture, the Embassy of Italy in San Marino, the Cultural Institutes (State Library, State Museums and State Archives), the University of Studies, the Higher Secondary School, the San Marino National Commission for Unesco and the Dante Alighieri Association. The celebrations began on 8 March: our Liceo Classico took part in the ecumenical flash-mob Baci dal mondo, in honor of Dante and Francesca da Rimini. At the same time, in twenty-one universities and schools on five continents, students and teachers recited, animated and commented the verses of Inferno V translated into the language of their country, following one another “live streaming” through social networks and the web. For San Marino the pupils of the third class performed in the recitation of the famous verses in the first “world” translation in Latin made in the 15th century by Fra ‘Giovanni Bertoldi from Serravallese. The performance was preceded by a punctual introduction by Prof. Lucia Crescentini. The San Marino Dante Alighieri Association had established the Award called One day for Dante in the 2019-2020 school year, extended due to epidemic to the year 2020-2021. The chosen theme was The principle of the theme verses that the participants on the development page of the verses Inf.i, 37-41. The first prize of € 500, made available by the Embassy of Italy in San Marino, was awarded to Diego Salucci, a student of class IV Classico. These are the remaining prizes, up for grabs by the San Marino Dante Alighieri Association: Nicolò Gasperini, a student of V Classico in the 2019-2020 school year, won the second prize of € 250; the third prize of 200 € was awarded to the merit studies (100 € each) presented by Giacomo De Vito and Sebastian Jurewicz, both students of the V class Scientific B. ‘Beyond the Divine Comedy, from 2020 it has been dedicated to Dante Alighieri with the institution of Dantedì. San Marino RTV on 25 March 2021 has a special, entitled Dante al Titano, director dedicated by the Director Carlo Romeo with numerous guests. The traditional “Month of Dante”, given the exceptional nature of the 700th century, became the Dante Year in 2021 and hosts a greater number of conferences and readings, grouped in a first cycle of four meetings, which began in April, and in a second cycle, also of four meetings, concluded in December. The appointments on the figure and the works of the Supreme Poet were held for the most part at the Titano Theater, also at the Upper Secondary School and inside the San Marino National Gallery. On 19 June an exhibition entitled: Foco mettesti – Readings, fragments, relics and Dante drawings on display was inaugurated; created by the Cultural Institutes and set up at the Pinacoteca San Francesco, it will remain open until February 6, 2022. In anticipation of the exhibition, some drawings made by the artist Emilio Ambron have been excellently restored and therefore exhibited. These are preparatory drawings, of great visual impact, for a fresco made in the Library of the Chigiana Academy of Music in Siena, having as its theme the XIII Canto del Purgatorio with the Sienese Sapia. Also this year, at the Tebaldi Garden of the Embassy of Italy, the summer cineforum Non sembiava immagine che silent (Purg. X, 39) was held, entitled Between tyranny and the Franco state – Dante and world cinema in San Marine. Recurring the seventh anniversary of Dante’s death, Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, the three canticles of the Divine Comedy, were represented by three different recently produced films screened on the evenings of July 28, 11 and 25 August. Each of the three films in the review, curated by Maria Elena D’Amelio and Maria Giovanna Fadiga, recalled one of the three canticles. Among all the initiatives, a particularly significant event should be noted which constituted the culmination of the celebrations that San Marino dedicated to the Poet in 2021, an event to which it has given itself its name: San Marino remembers and honors Dante. Born from the idea of ​​prof. Renato Di Nubila, having ascertained that the name of the great poet did not appear in the toponymy of the Republic of San Marino, decided to name a park, located in the Castle of Serravalle, after Dante Alighieri. A Dantesque Day was therefore organized for 10 September 2021 San Marino remembers and honors Dante on the seventh centenary of his death, divided into two events. In the early afternoon, the presentation conference was held in the Serravalle Auditorium. Moderated by Anna Maria Sirotti, presenter of San Marino RTV, the speakers followed one another starting with prof. Renato Di Nubila, on the theme Why still today, reading, studying and talking about Dante ?; which was followed by the intervention Dante and his universal poem, entrusted to Msgr. Andrea Turazzi, Bishop of San Marino and Montefeltro. This was followed by a tribute to Fra ‘Giovanni Bertoldi with the Lectura Dantis of some triplets of the Divine Comedy, translated into Latin by the Serravallese author, introduced and declaimed by professors Valeria Martini and Laura Tiberi. eng. Franco Capicchioni, president of the San Marino Dante Alighieri Association, finally drew the conclusions of the conference. At the end, the official ceremony was held to name the park adjacent to piazza Bertoldi after the Supreme Poet. The Exc.mi Captains Regent Gian Carlo Venturini and Marco Nicolini proceeded to unveil the plaque that commemorates him in the following terms: Dante Alighieri Park – Supreme Poet, Master and Exile for Freedom. For the world of San Marino culture it was a moment of strong emotion: from 10 September 2021 Dante is also an honorary citizen in San Marino. Of note is the day of 19 October, dedicated to the inauguration of the Academic Year 2021-22 of the University of the Republic of San Marino. For the occasion, a status conferred honoris causa on prof. Andrea Riccardi, President of the Dante Alighieri Society of Rome, the title of “PhD in Historical Sciences”, who finally delivered his “Lectio Magistralis”: Is there a “world” in Italian ?. The exhibition was held, entitled: 1321-1921-2021 – Un Mirabile Inferno, created in collaboration between the Embassy of Italy and the Secretariat of State for Education and Culture. It was set up in two locations: the Embassy in Viale Onofri and the State Library in Palazzo Valloni. In the Embassy, ​​from 19 October to 15 December 2021, the “images” of the first 17 cantos of Hell made by Amos Nattini, 12 exemplary painter of Dante’s illuminated manuscripts in facsimilar edition and the contemporary work of the New York artist George were exhibited Cochrane, with its graphic novel-style version of the Divine Comedy published in San Marino. In the Library, from 18 October to 6 November 2021, the parchment fragments of the Divine Comedy found in the bindings of the notarial collections of the Fossato di Vico (PG) archive were exhibited. The many initiatives organized this year to honor the Divine Poet ideally concluded with the 13th edition of the San Marino Identity Yearbook – Reflections on freedom and democracy between politics, history, culture, which is presented this year in newsstands and bookstores. in a special edition of 480 pages, both for the seventh centenary of the death of the Supreme Poet, and for the richness, originality and depth of the contributions, of great importance and involvement. Presented on 7 December in the Regency, on 9 December it was illustrated to the public of the Titano Theater by Sergio Barducci, which allowed the very numerous public to test the originality and depth of all the texts present in the volume. Particularly interesting opening are the fragments of fourteenth-century glosses to the Dante’s Comedy, a San Marino “Document” of exceptional historical and philological value proposed by prof. Paolo Valentini. Even the “Memory” section could not be dedicated to Dante Alighieri: it is in fact made up of a good number of writings dedicated to the Supreme Poet, the Divine Comedy, Dante’s poetics. The essays by Dante are followed by the “Texts” that explore topics related to the history of our Republic, all united by that feeling of belonging to the culture and life of our country which constitutes one of the foundations of our identity. For what has been done, it is possible that San Marino also celebrated the commemoration with dignity and the remarkable participation and the great involvement of authorities, teachers, authors, professionals of various disciplines, enthusiasts, public structures and, of the Upper Secondary School and of the Musical Institute, which all worked in the most diverse ways to create the many events, exhibitions, conferences and the Yearbook, enhancing the cultural excellence of our country. It is believed that this is an important sign that bodes well for a healthy recovery for our Republic, based on the spirit of civilization and the values ​​that Dante himself continues to transmit to the whole world with his work.

cs San Marino Dante Alighieri Association