Ciccillo Matarazzo Award honors Italian-Brazilian culture

Professor Aurora Fornoni Bernardini of the University of São Paulo (USP) and the president of the National Library of Brazil, Marco Lucchesi, were honored with the Ciccillo Matarazzo per Italiani nel Mondo Award, which reached its second edition in 2025 to honor Italian-Brazilian personalities who have distinguished themselves in their fields in the South American country.

The ceremony was held at Terraço Itália, a restaurant located at the top of the iconic Edifício Itália, in São Paulo, and was attended by the Italian ambassador in Brasília, Alessandro Cortese, the consul general in the capital of São Paulo, Domenico Fornara, and dozens of representatives of the Italian-Brazilian community.

"For us, as Italians, it is very honorable to be able to count on such important values ​​as those we are presenting here," said businessman and former Brazilian ambassador to Rome Andrea Matarazzo, creator of the award and great-grandnephew of Ciccillo Matarazzo (1898-1977), an Italian-Brazilian who is considered the greatest patron of art in the country's history.

Cortese, in turn, highlighted the importance of the award and stated that Bernardini and Lucchesi "left an important mark" in Brazil. "Relations between Italy and Brazil are excellent, and these illustrious Italian descendants become a kind of ambassadors of Brazil in Italy, but also of Italy in Brazil, so it is something very significant and symbolic," the diplomat told ANSA.

Born in Domodossola, in northern Italy, Aurora Bernardini is a novelist, university researcher, translator and senior professor at USP. "It's a lifelong recognition. The watchword in northern Italy is 'work', and I inherited that in my DNA, so I've always worked hard and made an effort to promote Italy in Brazil and Brazil in Italy, without seeking fame or anything," said the award winner.

Marco Lucchesi, of Italian descent born in Rio de Janeiro, is a novelist, memoirist, essayist, translator and editor. Since the beginning of 2023, he has been president of the bicentennial National Library, the oldest cultural institution in Brazil and headquartered in the capital of Rio de Janeiro.

"This award was not exactly for me. It could have been for anyone else who represented those millions of Italians who came here with a concept of work. They did not seek a fleeting posterity, they worked until the last day and dreamed in an extraordinary way," said Lucchesi upon receiving the bronze and steel trophy created by artist Maria Bonomi, also a member of the award jury.

The jury also includes personalities such as Cortese, Fornara, Matarazzo, the Brazilian ambassador to Italy, Renato Mosca, ambassador Rubens Ricupero, the president of Colégio Dante Alighieri, José Luiz Farina, the former president of Escola Eugenio Montale Sandra Papaiz, among others.