Tribute to Guglielmo Marconi
A group of five organisations active in philately and postal history agreed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Marconi’s birth with a special presentation. The Philatelic Society “Guglielmo Marconi” of Sasso Marconi, Prato’s Institute of Postal History Studies “Aldo Cecchi” onlus, the Museum of Taxis and Postal History, the Historical Museum of Communication – Ministry of the Enterprises and the Made in Italy, and the USFI joined forces. The presentation consists of 20 panels illustrated with around 200 images of Marconi’s life and equipment, including the most significant stamps and a wide range of radiotelegraphic messages. The display has been authored by Giancarlo Morolli, FEPA vice president, and Giuliano Nanni, honorary president of Marconi’s philatelic society in Sasso, under the patronage of the National Committee for the Celebrations of the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Guglielmo Marconi, established by the Ministry of Culture. Among the many visitors to the presentation, unveiled at the USFI meeting in Sasso Marconi, was Barbara Valotti, director of the Museum of the Marconi Foundation, who congratulated the authors on their achievement. Such National Committee also patronises a new edition of Morolli’s and Nanni’s 192-page book “Guglielmo Marconi, Space Explorer” in Italian and English, to be released next October.
Giancarlo Morolli, Barbara Valotti, and Giuliano Nanni
The meetings of the Unione Stampa Filatelica Italiana (USFI), a society founded in 1966 that gathers 120 philatelic journalists and writers, were held in Sasso Marconi, near Bologna. In the family land house in the administrative section of this municipality, named Pontecchio, 1909 Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi, at the time 21, could transmit signals over the Celestini hills. Wireless telegraphy was born. From 6 to 8th September, the USFI yearly philatelic congress was held involving a broad set of subjects, with 25 reports, including those from the representatives of the postal administrations of San Marino, the Vatican, and the Sovereign Order of Malta. Then, the general assembly of USFI confirmed Beniamino Bordoni as president and elected the Board for the next term, including internationally known philatelists like Luca Lavagnino, Thomas Mathà, and Giancarlo Morolli. On that occasion, the FEPA vice president presented Fabio Bonacina and Beniamino Bordoni with the certificate granted for their book “Creatività per un francobollo” in the frame of the 2023 FEPA Award program – Medal for Exceptional Research. The book, published by the USFI, presents and catalogues some 1,700 designs of Italian stamps that have not been approved or finalised. These items, stored at the Historical Museum of Communication in Rome, represent the indelible testimony of a period and reflect its style, as they attest to the graphic evolution and fashion of the times.
