Culture

CULTURE – The Bemporad family and the cookbook that united Italy

At the end of the 19th century, Italian gastronome Pellegrino Artusi knocked on the doors of various publishers to get his cookbook published. He tried, among others, to persuade Emilio Treves, the man who at that moment embodied Italian …

BOOKS – Promises of love in Italy post-World War II

Set in postwar Italy, Certe promesse d’amore (Some promises of love) is one of the most poetic works by Turin writer Aldo Zargani (1933–2020). While his acclaimed For Solo Violin: A Jewish Childhood in Fascist Italy, published in English in …

EDUCATION – Turin celebrates Jewish school’s 200th birthday

Hundreds of people of all ages gathered at Turin’s Jewish Community center to celebrate the 200 years anniversary of the Jewish school. “It is a remarkable moment for the entire city,” said Giulio Disegni, president of Asset, the association of …

ROME – I-Tal-Ya books and the challenges ahead

An international conference, press presentations, and events in museums and cultural institutions—these are just some of the initiatives being planned to share the achievements of I-Tal-Ya Books with a wider, non-specialist audience. This ambitious cataloging project, focused on Jewish books …

REMEMBRANCE – Italian synagogues light up on Kristallnacht anniversary

From Turin to Naples, from Genoa to Venice, Italian synagogues across the country lit up in remembrance on the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass.” This brutal pogrom, carried out by the Nazis in Germany on …

JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL – To be a Jew today, a discussion about identity

Essere ebrei oggi (Being Jewish today, published by Il Mulino,) the latest essay by Italian-Israeli demographer and statistician Sergio Della Pergola, was conceived well before October 7. However, as the author acknowledges, “history also advances through leaps and disruptions.” Thus, …

TURIN – REMEMBR-HOUSE, students’ projects on display

Hundreds of students from across Italy responded to the call for applications by REMEMBR-HOUSE, a project promoted by the Fondazione 1563 per l’Arte e la Cultura della Compagnia di San Paolo and the Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah …