Milan, Andrea Jarach receives the Ambrogino d’Oro award Silvia Vegetti Finzi and Gariwo also awarded

For years Andrea Jarach, entrepreneur and member of the Jewish community of Milan, has been involved in initiatives to enhance his city. From the editorial work of the magazine WikiMilano, to the urban decoration project “Angeli del Bello” (“Angels of Beauty”), to the support of local excellence through the cultural association “Milano Loves You”. “I am happy and proud of what I have done in my forty-year career. And I am happy and proud of the recognition that comes from my city.” That is what Jarach told Pagine Ebraiche after being awarded the prestigious Ambrogino d’Oro 2023, the prize annually bestowed by the municipality to recognize people and associations that stood out for their commitment and work for the common good.
“The award comes at a very difficult time for those close to Israel. I have never hidden my activism for the Jewish state and for me the Ambrogino d’Oro award acquires an additional value: it shows how much as Jews we are part of the social fabric, how much we are citizens of Milan with our requests and sensibilities.” Jarach recalls how the commitment to Milan is part of his family culture: starting from his grandfather Federico and his father Guido, both entrepreneurs awarded by the city with civic merits, to his brother Roberto, president of the Shoah Memorial. “These recognitions help counteract the prejudice about the Jewish world and the distorted belief that we are other from the city. We are an integral part of it,” Jarach, also founder of the publishing company Proedi Editore, reiterates.
In addition to his activities in Milan, Jarach chairs the association “Friends of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.” “The university has been severely afflicted by the conflict with Hamas. There were casualties and injuries among lecturers and students, and the teaching activities were suspended. For an academic institution, this represents the greatest damage. We try to raise awareness among Italian universities and find support for Ben-Gurion.”
In this perspective, he explains, in several cities – Milan, Rome, Trieste, Turin and Venice – ambassadors who can “form a network to help the Israeli university” have been appointed. After the petition signed by thousands of Italian professors for a boycott of Israeli academia, Jarach does not hide his bitterness. “I had immediately asked the deans to mobilize, and instead there was silence. Now I understand why, but we, in our small way, will try to mend fences and explain the importance of collaboration.”
In addition to Jarach, Silvia Vegetti Finzi, psychologist and pedagogist, who escaped racial persecution and author of the autobiographical book “Una bambina senza stella” (“A girl without a star”), will also receive the Ambrogino d’oro award this year. The “Fondazione Foresta dei Giusti Gariwo”, which manages the Garden of the Righteous in Milan, will be awarded the certificate of civic merit.

Translated by Annadora Zuanel and revised by Francesca Pischedda, students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities – Pagine Ebraiche.