Nicola Monaco, teacher at Nogaro: an extraordinary man
Poets reach immortality thanks to the memory that endures in the living, says Ronsard more or less. It is also true for men who marked their environment wherever they lived and acted. This is how Nicola (read Nicola) Monaco, professor of physics and chemistry at the Cité scolaire d’Artagnan, marked this one as well as the Clan (at the time it meant “Culture leisure animation Nogaro”) by his dynamism and his innovative action, from 1983 to 1996. “A wonderful and warm man” says José Marseillan.
An innovative teacher
He died recently, but José and Danielle Marseillan, who were stationed at the Cité scolaire d’Artagnan, have a living memory of him. “He was an innovative person,” says José Marseillan. “With his extraordinary dynamism, he invented new experiments for practical work in the laboratory, experiments that he resulted in by the school community and the National Education”. It gave work to the administration, but the children were enthusiastic”.
This man was athletic. He played for years at the Tennis-club of Nogaro and, as an associative activist, he was one of the organizers of table tennis tournaments in Clan.
Micro-rockets preserved by José and Danielle Marseillan
The micro-rocket workshop
But the highlight of his stay in Nogaro was his workshop for the design, construction and launch of micro-rockets by many college students, with the blessing of the Academic Inspectorate and within the framework of the Clan. A workshop that had considerable success, including with the public. It should be remembered that at the time, the Clan, created by teachers from the Cité Scolaire, was a sort of extension of the latter. This workshop was such a success that the National Education chose Nicola Monaco to develop the educational component of the Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse, while he had left to pursue his career in L’Isle-Jourdain.
Strong ties with Nogaro
However, he did not cut ties with Nogaro: “committed to culture and elected municipal official of L’Isle-en-Dodon, in 2011 he invited the workshop-theatre of the Clan to come and play in this town the play A straw hat from Italy by Eugene Labiche. “It was, according to José Marseillan, “a memorable evening, with a full house, the presence of many schoolchildren and an unforgettable welcome. »
An example of a well-integrated immigrant
“Nicola Monaco was an example of integration thanks to the school of the Republic and an unfailing will. Immigrated to France in 1954, at the age of 7, from his village in Abruzzo, he did not forget his roots. “It was thus”, continues José Marseillan, “that, in the 1970s, he became strongly involved in the relationship of Italian immigration, in particular in the musical spectacle Italians, 150 years of emigration in stories, songs and images”. A successful show: full house in 2015 at the Halle aux grains in Toulouse and 50 performances throughout France and three in Italy. In addition, he recounted his journey in a book published in 2016, Memories of an Italian emigrant’s life.
José Marseillan concluded: “A fine journey which illness has decided to put an end to”.
NB – On the photo at the top of the page: Nicola Monaco (photo provided by José Marseillan).