Commemorative evening dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the eminent Italian specialist in Slavonic and Bulgarian studies Prof. Riccardo Picchio was held on 31 August in the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
The initiative is part of the events under the patronage of the Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria, organized within the national scientific programme “Development and Promotion of Bulgarian Language Studies Abroad”.
The event was opened by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elka Traykova, Scientific Secretary of the “Cultural-Historical Heritage and National Identity” division. Mrs. Iliana Iotova, Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria, gave her greetings. Her Excellency Mrs. Giuseppina Zarra, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to the Republic of Bulgaria, welcomed the participants of the Ninth International Colloquium on Old Bulgarian Studies, scholars from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Plovdiv and Shumen Universities, the National Library “Sts. Cyril and Methodius”, the directors of the Italian Cultural Institute and the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute. A welcome address was made by Corr. Memb. Prof. Evdokiya Pasheva, Vice President of BAS. Prof. Krassimir Stantchev gave a report on the life and work of Prof. Riccardo Picchio. Memories of working with Prof. Picchio were shared by Prof. Alexander Naumov (Poland) and Prof. Anna-Maria Totomanova (Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”). His Eminence Monsignor Francesco Braschi, Director of the Department of Slavonic Studies at the Ambrosiana Academy (Milan) and Deputy Director of the eponymous library, read the memoirs of Prof. Giorgio Ziffer (Italy).
Dr. Silvia Naydenova, Director of the Central Library of BAS, presented the exhibition “100 years since the birth of Prof. Riccardo Picchio”, prepared by the team of the Central Library under the scientific guidance of Prof. Krassimir Stantchev. The exhibition was realized thanks to the access to the scientist’s archive, kindly provided by his heirs. Sixteen poster boards present the life and work of R. Picchio and previously unpublished materials and originals are exhibited, among them the passport with which, only nineteen years old, he came to Bulgaria for the first time in the autumn of 1942, his diploma thesis on Pencho Slaveykov (1946), the diploma for the “Brothers Cyril and Methodius” International Award (1983), orders, medals, fragments of his correspondence with eminent scholars such as R. Jakobson, J. М. Lotman, P. Dinekov, etc.
The exhibition can be viewed at BAS until 21 September 2023.
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