The ceremony last night in a packed Giusso Castle.
“A unique event in Campania and beyond. It is probably a world-record event. Because not everyone can count 19 Nobel Prizes in their palmares”. This was the comment that was heard most often yesterday among guests and the audience on the sidelines of the 25th edition of the “Capo d'Orlando International Scientific Award” organized by the Museo Mineralogico Campano Fondazione Discepolo.
The Giusso Castle Hall was packed with a large audience for the awards ceremony, which saw the awarding of the silver plaque to Svante Pääbo, the current Nobel Prize winner for Medicine, to Prof. Giuseppe Remuzzi (Director of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan), to Prof. Gabriel Zuchtriegel (Director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii), to Prof. Giorgio Manzi (paleoanthropologist at the University “La Sapienza” in Rome), to Dr. Carlo Pontecorvo (president and CEO of “Ferrarelle Società Benefit”) and to Prof. Maurizio Bifulco (Full Professor of General Pathology and History of Medicine at the Federico II University of Naples).
“This demonstration – began the Rector of the University of Federico II Matteo Lorito – it always manages to amaze me and I experience it every time with extreme gratitude. Every year it manages to attract outstanding personalities from the world of culture and business and it is proof that to make a great event you don't necessarily need the backdrop of a big city. People come to Vico not only for the wonder of its territory but also to listen live to a Nobel Prize winner and the other guests who are selected with great care for each edition. It is a real pleasure to renew every year the closeness of my university to this recognition”.
The award, which benefits from the patronage not only of the Federico II University but also of the Campania Region, the CNR, the Union of Scientific Journalists and the City of Vico Equense, has been a source of pride for the area for years now.Even though we are a provincial reality – continued the deputy mayor Benedetto Migliaccio – our City has always been at the center of great cultural movements and history, just think of the Enlightenment and Gaetano Filangieri. Thanks to the constant work of the Discepolo Foundation, we have reached the 25th edition of the Award and we will always renew the administration's support for this event that brings culture to Vico and the name of Vico to the forefront of world culture".
It is no coincidence that the exhibition “The Nobel Prize Winners in Vico” remains open until Sunday, May 28, which testifies to the strong bond of the prestigious award with the territory and the appreciation of scientists for its landscape, artistic, cultural and gastronomic beauties. On display, photos and videos of unpublished, informal, jovial, familiar moments of the illustrious scholars during their stay in Vico over the years, which then remained in their hearts and in their affectionate dedications.
"Every year – added Dr. Umberto Celentano, creator of the Award and director of the Museo Mineralogico Campano – the guests always welcome the invitation with great enthusiasm, also because they are attracted by the beauty of our areas. Once they leave, each one, starting with the Nobel Prize winners, then becomes a testimonial for our City around the world. Our goal is to bring these great personalities of science closer to the general public and to young minds, so that in turn even the young people can broaden their horizons”.
And speaking of kids, like every year, the Nobel Prize winner is led to discover the Museo Mineralogico Campano by exceptional guides. Yesterday morning, acting as guides in English and German to Svante Pääbo and his wife Linda Vigilant, were a selection of kids from the third and fourth classes of the Liceo Linguistico “Publio Virgilio Marone” in Meta di Sorrento.
To seal the 25th anniversary ceremony, there were also two surprises: the delivery of two commemorative plaques to the founder of the Umberto Celentano Award. The first, as a sign of gratitude, wanted by the municipal administration and delivered by the deputy mayor Benedetto Migliaccio, and the second, strongly desired by the friends and staff of the Museo Mineralogico Campano. “These two unexpected and welcome recognitions are a source of pride for me and an incentive to continue on this path towards achieving new goals”, concluded Celentano.
Article published on May 24, 2023 - 16:22 pm
