Roma aeterna. Prof. Piero Boitani for the 2025 Balzan Lecture

The Balzan Lecture 2025 will be held on Wednesday, 24 September, at 6:30 pm in the West Campus Auditorium in Lugano. This year's lecture will be given by Prof. Piero Boitani and is titled Roma aeterna. The lecture, a result of a long-standing collaboration between the Fondazione Balzan and Università della Svizzera italiana, is part of USI's efforts to preserve and promote the Italian language and culture in Switzerland.

Prof. Boitani, winner of the 2016 Balzan Prize for Comparative Literature and one of the founders of the Institute of Italian Studies (ISI) at USI in 2007, thus anticipates the meaning of his speech: "Rome is often referred to as the 'Eternal City,' and while this might not be entirely accurate from a literal standpoint, it holds a special significance. Rome has recently celebrated its 2,778th birthday, making it 2,700 years older than me. There are certainly older cities in the world; however, Rome stands out for its remarkable continuity of historical importance. This continuity is largely due to the connection between the ancient Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. I will provide some iconographic and literary examples of this continuity, some of which are amusing. Rome is eternal in another way as well: it represents, in history, the boundary between the earthly present and heavenly eternity. As Dante writes, each of us is potentially 'without end,' a citizen of that Rome of which Christ is a citizen. One might think that this is only a belief of medieval Catholics. Still, while listening to the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, sing Gregorio Allegri's 'Miserere', we will see that it is a proclamation by one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century."

The encounter will be introduced by:

Luisa Lambertini, Rector of Università della Svizzera italiana

Marina Carobbio Guscetti, State Councillor of the Canton of Ticino and Director of the Department for Education, Culture and Sport (DECS).

Raoul Ghisletta, Municipal Councillor of the City of Lugano

Marta Cartabia, President of the General Committee of the Balzan Prizes