Death of Piero Angela, so many messages of condolence

So many messages of condolence arrive by the minute to pay tribute to Piero Angela on the day of his passing. They start from the highest offices of the state. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, issued this statement, “I feel great sorrow for the death of Piero Angela, a refined intellectual, journalist and writer who made an unforgettable mark on the history of television in Italy, bringing ever wider swaths of the public closer to the world of culture and science, promoting its dissemination in an authoritative and engaging manner. I express my deepest condolences and my closeness to his family, stressing that a great Italian to whom the Republic is grateful passes away.”

For Senate President Elisabetta Casellati, “Italy owes so much to Piero Angela, a journalist, beloved television host and true teacher of life for entire generations. He spread knowledge and stimulated curiosity among young people and adults, forming better citizens, aware of the extraordinary secrets of nature and science. My sympathy to his family members.” House Speaker Roberto Fico emphasizes that Angela “was a formidable popularizer, able with seriousness and passion to tell about science in all its meanings. Entering with grace and wisdom into the homes of Italians, he brought entire generations closer to culture, transmitting the pleasure for knowledge and doing true public service. He will be missed.”

“Italy is deeply grateful to Piero Angela,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi wrote instead. “He was a master of science popularization, capable of entering the homes of generations of Italians with intelligence, politeness and sympathy. His broadcasts and essays made science and the scientific method clear and usable by all. His civil commitment against pseudoscience has been a fundamental garrison for the common good and has made Italy a better country. Piero Angela was a great Italian, able to unite the country like few. To his loved ones, the government’s and my personal condolences.” Culture Minister Dario Franceschini also expresses his condolences: “A great popularizer, a man of science and culture who, exploiting the possibilities of public television service, allowed entire generations of Italians to approach science and understand its secrets. A great Italian, an elegant and rigorous man capable of conveying the pleasure of discovery and knowledge. I embrace the grief of his son Alberto and the entire family on this sad day.” According to the Minister of Universities and Research, Maria Cristina Messa, “Piero Angela demonstrated and taught for years the importance and beauty of bringing everyone, young and old, experts and not so experienced, closer to science, research and its results, with a language within everyone’s reach. A legacy that we must treasure and continue, on a daily basis, to nurture.” She is echoed by Education Minister Patrizio Bianchi: “We all owe so much to Piero Angela. Gone is a man who always put the love of knowledge and its dissemination first. He did so much for his country, for our children. Truly thank you and a big hug to his family.” In contrast, the passing of Piero Angela, says Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani, “is an immense loss. He was for all an example of depth, professionalism, humanity and competence, managing to bring science and science popularization into our society and into everyone’s homes. It is essential to strive to ensure that his example continues to enlighten new generations.”

Rai’s message could not be missed, expressed in a joint note by president Marinella Soldi and CEO Carlo Fuortes: "Preparing for the future“ is the title chosen by Piero Angela for the next edition of his Superquark. Ninety-three years of age, a master of science popularization, he kept intact the curiosity of a child discovering the world. To his enthusiasm for knowledge and discovery Rai and all of Italy owe much. His broadcasts were able to tell everyone in a simple and fascinating way about complex topics, aspects of knowledge that in the past were reserved for the more educated segments of the population. Piero Angela in his long activity for RAI has shown how a high and at the same time popular use of the television medium can be made, creating an exemplary model of public service. An experimenter in cutting-edge television techniques, he was beloved in the company for his professionalism and dedication to his work. He knew how to value everyone’s contribution, knowing that television requires teamwork.”

Emotion also came from the professional orders. “Thank you Piero Angela,” writes Filippo Anelli, president of the National Federation of Medical Associations. “Gone is the champion of science, leaving us a great legacy: confidence in a humanity capable of facing the challenges of the future, because it is able to ensure the well-being of all men, without distinction.” Thus, instead, the National Council of the Order of Journalists remembers him: “Piero Angela has left us, a master of journalism great popularizer of science, always attentive and sensitive to the issues of the environment and the relationship between man and everything that surrounds him, in all its declinations: from astronomy to ecosystems, from history to nuclear physics. An example of clear, accurate, rigorous and at the same time accessible information. A model for all of us.”

Attests of esteem also from the world of television: many colleagues remember Piero Angela. “Rarely have I received such bad news: for me Piero Angela was a friend and he was one of those people you tend to consider immortal,” says Maurizio Costanzo. “Piero Angela for Italian TV embodied the possibility of talking about difficult things to everyone, if you know how to do it. He was really the prince of popularizers.” According to Giovanni Minoli, Angela “belongs to an era of Rai that leaves a great void and above all teaches us that Rai when it is Public Service is absolutely unique and helps people understand and grow. And he was a master of this education. So we are grateful to him because his programs do not end, they can be watched and reviewed and they can teach the next generations as well.” Italy, Pippo Baudo stressed, “owes a lot to Piero Angela, every Italian owes him something, to have learned something from him. To each of us he explained something. We must remember him with great gratitude, and from Rai I expect a concrete gesture to honor his memory. I expect a little piece of Rai to be named after him, because he really embodied public service in its purest sense.”

There is no shortage of messages from the world of science and culture. “Italy and Italian science owe a great deal to Piero Angela,” says Nobel laureate Giorgio Parisi: "with his tireless commitment over these seventy years, he managed to use his gifts of empathy and intelligent communicator to arouse an enthusiastic interest in so many Italians and in particular in young people, many of whom have become scientists of an exceptional level. He was an extremely willing person to fight for any cause he deemed important: I remember his fundamental support for the Save the Research campaign." CICAP writes: “It is with emotion and sorrow that we learn of the passing of Piero Angela, journalist and science popularizer, our founder and honorary president. His passion for knowledge his critical spirit, communication and human skills are just some of the great qualities that have inspired Cicap’s work over the years and, as of today, represent a great legacy that will continue to guide us. To his family and those who knew and loved him go our most sincere condolences.”

Physician Matteo Bassetti recalled in a televised address that Piero Angela “was a giant in front of whom I feel like a midget. His simplicity in expounding even the most complex topics was also for me, in my medical profession, an example and a point of reference.”Arcigay, on the other hand, recalls his commitment against homophobia: “We learn with sorrow of the passing of Piero Angela, who repeatedly spoke out against homophobia, with a clear message of ordinariness and normality of same-sex couples. In 2016 Piero Angela welcomed the prime-time words of Professor Jannini who specified how the real disease was homophobia, and certainly not homosexuality. In 2021 Angela reiterated the concept when interviewed by Fabio Fazio, specifying the absolute normality of same-sex couples, without any distinction.” Singer Piero Pelù thanks the great popularizer: “You taught us to combine Science and knowledge with sympathy and lightness as only the greats know how to do. I join Alberto and wish you bon voyage, lacio drom!” Singer and comedian Lorenzo Baglioni remembers him fondly: “When I was in high school I had stuck your poster on the central wall of the classroom. When I went to Sanremo they asked me with whom I would like to duet and I, without thinking twice, smilingly replied, ’With Piero Angela accompanying me on the piano on the notes of The Laws of Kepler.’ If I do what I do today, if I try to do popularization in music, so much, so much, I owe it to you, because ’I don’t believe in angels, I only believe in Piero Angela.’ THANK YOU.” Singer Francesca Michielin writes: “Piero Angela has shaped and inspired generations, not so much because of what he has done, which is culturally mammoth, but because of how he has done it: with passion, humility, a desire to collaborate and an unbridled curiosity. I would not be who I am without you and no person in this country would be. From dinosaurs to jazz to the chemical reactions that happen with a kiss: you were and always will be absolute. Each of us should have you as an example to live a life to the fullest.”

Death of Piero Angela, so many messages of condolence

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