Nocera Inferiore. 'The important thing is that death finds us alive'. This phrase by Marcello Marchesi partly conveys the meaning of life, personality and professionalism of Antonio Sarno, the lawyer from Nocera, who passed away due to a sudden illness last Sunday.
"A witty man, gifted with wise irony, gentle manners, ancient elegance, biting frankness, intellectual honesty like few others. Antonio was a prince of the Bar, an intellectual, one of the last representatives of a prestigious old guard of lawyers, a refined criminal lawyer, a winner" wrote about him - describing his traits - his colleague and friend Gian Ettore Gassani.
A student of Giorgio Barbarulo, assistant at the chair of criminal procedure at the University of Salerno, headed by Professor Andrea Antonio Dalia, with whom he collaborated in the academic and professional fields, lawyer Sarno wore the toga in courts throughout Italy for over 40 years.
“It is difficult, if not impossible, to explain in words the affection and esteem that we all had for this great criminal lawyer, the same feeling that all magistrates have always had for Him. Antonio was and always will be the splendid expression of how one should be a Lawyer, how one should be a Friends, how one should face the adventure of life”. Again the words of the lawyer Gassani. It is difficult, in fact, if not impossible to describe the professional, the man, the friend and the father Antonio Sarno.
Yesterday morning, in Nocera Inferiore, the last farewell to the lawyer who leaves a human, professional, cultural, political void in those who knew him in 70 years of life, in those who crossed paths with him in over 40 years of profession, but also in those who professionally followed his brilliant intuitions which proved to be important 'legal precedents'.
Former councilor of the Municipality of Nocera Inferiore, a man of the left, a passionate jurist, a scholar of criminal law, a voracious and passionate lover of books and philosophy, he trained dozens of young lawyers, for many of whom he was not only a teacher but also an irreverent, caustic and irreverent guide in their profession and in life.
His vision of the true and true value of things, his biting irony, his booming voice that resounded in the courtrooms, in the passionate speeches in which an oxymoron was enough to induce judges and magistrates to reflect on their judgment. But also his biting interrogations, his lively intelligence, his education, his never-tamed attitude towards those who had him as an adversary, but never an enemy, and towards the many clients who trusted his professionalism, will be difficult to replace.
Shy and reserved, far from formalisms and protagonisms in his private life. Histrionic and elevated in his profession. A 'winner' with the strength of words, intelligence, study, attitude towards a life that found him alive even at the moment of death. As happens to only a few.
Article published on 21 September 2021 - 09:41
