On the occasion of the celebrations for “Dantedi” (Dante’s day) in the presence of the President of the Republic of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, and the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini, Roberto Benigni read the XXV Canto del Paradiso in the Salone dei Corazzieri at Quirinale on live TV.
- Benigni said Dante wrote the Paradise to remove people from the state of sadness, something we all surely could use right now.
- The La divina Commedia event is celebrated on March 25 which is the anniversary of Dantes’ death in 1321.
- In the course of the event from spring to autumn Dante Alighieri and Francesca da Rimini, the most known and most loved Divine Comedy character in the world will be celebrated with 30 coordinated cultural events.
The Tuscan (Nobel Prize) actor stressed Dante wrote the poem Paradise “to remove people from the state of sadness, misery, poverty in which they find themselves and lead them to a state of happiness.”
What is happiness for Dante? The end of Paradise – the third and final part of Dante’s Divine Comedy – is the infinite desire that each of us has to identify with and to rejoin the divine reality. “Each of us,” Benigni said, “feels that there is an immortal spark inside, and Dante knows it. After reading Paradise, if you read it by letting go, you no longer look at other people with distraction or indifference, but as chests of a mystery, custodians of an immense destiny.”
Dantedi
On March 25, the entire day was dedicated to Dante to celebrate this supreme poet who, in his verses, gave an identity to Italy several centuries before it became a nation. His work still speaks to us today of mystical and very real places, of beauty and humanity in all its facets, with a message that is more contemporary and current than ever.
This day must be celebrated in a special way to honor the seven hundredth anniversary of the death of Alighieri. This is why throughout Italy, and especially in Florence, Ravenna, and Verona – three key cities in Dante’s history -there are hundreds of events, large and small, that pay homage to Dante and his Commedia.
La divina Commedia
The event is celebrated on March 25 which is the anniversary of Dantes’ death in 1321. Scholars have identified on that date the beginning of the journey into the afterlife of the Divine Comedy. This national day dedicated to Dante Alighieri was established in 2020 by the Council of Ministers on the proposal of Minister Dario Franceschini.
Dante in the world and events
Dante’s genius is recognized by the whole world and it is certainly not only Italy that wants to celebrate: there are thousands of events organized “from below” on all continents, thanks to spontaneous initiatives.
In addition to about a hundred sponsored by the Committee for the “Dante 700” celebrations, among those proposed by the museums, archives, and libraries of the State and by the City of Dante, to those of the National Committee for the Celebrations recognize the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri and of the National Central Library of Rome – BNCR – all collected on the website: www.beniculturali.it
