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La Pira, communities of Europe and the world: foundation stones of dialogue

Posted on 04 November 2014

piraThe Central National Library of Florence and the Historical Archives of the European Union are presenting the exhibition La Pira, communities of Europe and the world: foundation stones of dialogue, organised in the occasion of the semester of Italian presidency of the Council of the European Union.

La Pira, Florence and the European University Institute

This exhibition sheds light on the role that Giorgio La Pira, as mayor of Florence, played in determining the choice of his city as the seat of the European University Institute. La Pira considered Florence, the cradle of Renaissance, as a place that more than any other had contributed to establish and spread the spiritual and cultural values of Humanism, the founding stones on which western civilisation and the European integration process were enshrined.

La Pira, a pragmatist and a visionary

In la Pira’s vision, the European University was to be a centre from which humanistic values should have flowed towards developing countries. The complex negotiations among the countries promoting the University did not allow this vision to be fully implemented. Nonetheless, his pragmatic initiatives and his capacity of persuasion were instrumental in persuading the Italian and the other Governments of the European Communities in favour of the choice of Florence as the location for the EUI.

The exhibition, which will take place in the sale monumentali of the Biblioteca Centrale Nazionale of Florence from 5th November to 31st December 2014, is organised with the collaboration of Fondazione La Pira, Sovrintendenza Archivistica della Toscanaand Congregazione Camaldolese, under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

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