Restored bust of Aldo Gastaldi, partisan, in the city centre
The bust with plaque of Aldo Gastaldi, the “Bisagno” partisan, made by the sculptor Piero Soleri and erected in the green area between piazza Corvetto and via XII Ottobre has returned to its former glory. The restoration originated from the proposal of Franco Rusca of the Rotary Club Genova Ovest and the Club International Inner Wheel Genova. The deputy mayor Pietro Piciocchi took part in the presentation of the restoration together with Carla Caccamo and Mirella Bergaglio who in the 2021-22 financial year presided over the clubs that took charge of the initiative.
“I am particularly happy to be able to renew the memory of Aldo Gastaldi – says the deputy mayor Pietro Piciocchi -. I thank the Rotary Club Genova Ovest and the Club International Inner Wheel Genova for this worthy initiative. ‘Bisagno’ was a courageous man, with a strong personality and pragmatic, distinguished by profound human and Christian values. He taught us that when we are moved by heart and passion, even the most difficult challenges can be faced and overcome. His is an extraordinary timeless figure, an example for everyone”.
The restoration of the bronze and stone sculpture was the work of Axel Nielsen while Virgilio Cuccadu’s company Marmi Processing was responsible for creating the travertine plaque whose inscription reads: “Aldo Gastaldi gold medal. Commander of the Cichero division. A Bisagno who gave us the confidence to fight for a better Italy 1943-1945”.
Who was Aldo Gastaldi, partisan “Bisagno”
Aldo Gastaldi, born in Granarolo on 17 September 1921 and died at the age of twenty-three on 21 May 1945 in Cisano di Bardolino, was the greatest exponent of the Italian Resistance movement operating in Genoa and one of the most brilliant figures in the struggle for liberation from Nazi-fascism. After 8 September 1943 he began his partisan adventure. Near San Colombano Certenoli, on the slopes of Mount Ramaceto, together with other comrades they created the first nucleus of what would become the Cichero Division. Catholic and non-partisan, he was awarded the Gold Medal for military valor and named “First Partisan of Italy”.
The Genoese branch of the Italian Catholic University Federation is named after Aldo Gastaldi. In June 2019, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco launched a cause for his beatification for “his great faith, simple and profound, combined with an abandonment and unlimited trust in Divine Providence”.
His remains are buried in the Pantheon of the monumental cemetery of Staglieno, where the most illustrious Genoese rest.