Luigi Beschi Receives Culture Gold Medal from Italian President
There are ongoing national and international recognitions that highlight a truly brilliant career as a scholar and researcher. After receiving an honorary doctorate in Thessaloniki two years ago, Professor Luigi Beschi recently received the gold medal for culture from the hands of President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
Origins and Education
The echo of this latest accolade reached all the way to Lake Garda, the native land of Professor Beschi, who is originally from Rivoltella where he was born in 1930. He lived for a long time with his family at Cascina Innocenta, then in the locality of Moie. He maintained his residence in Desenzano until 1992.
After studying at the Don Mazza College, he embarked on a career in university teaching and research. Assistant at the University of Padova and at the Italian Archaeological School of Athens, he became a professor at the University of Chieti, Naples, and Pisa starting from 1972.
Career and Recognitions
He is a national member of the Accademia dei Lincei, the Pontifical Society of Archaeology, and a member of the Società di Scienze, Lettere ed Arte di Napoli, the Hellenic Society, and the Instituto di Studi Etruschi. He is the author of numerous publications, essays, and monographs on Roman monuments from Veneto, Cyrenaica, Athens, Attica, Lemnos, as well as contributions to the history of archaeology and antiquities collecting.
He has led excavations since 1959 in Cyrene and Crete, and since 1978, annual excavation campaigns in the cities of Ephesus, at the local Cabiri sanctuary. Professor Beschi is renowned for his studies on the friezes of the Parthenon. His work in Greece earned him, in 1998, the recognition of the University of Thessaloniki while holding the position of Professor of Archaeology and the History of Greco-Roman Art at the University of Florence.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the Aristotle University of Greece. The prestigious title was conferred for his teaching activity, scientific production, research, and excavations conducted in Greece.
The Ceremony and the Reasons
The award ceremony took place in Thessaloniki during an official session opened by the speech of the director after greetings from Rector Michele Papadopoulos. The reasons for the degree were as follows: “Luigi Beschi is a wise man dedicated to the arts, philhellene, and has also accomplished archaeological research by studying and interpreting with rigor temples, houses, and tombs of the ancient Greeks and the arts related to them.”
He has authored many essays and has always been eager to share his knowledge; as a professor, he taught for 25 years and delivered lectures to the youth of Thessaloniki. Professor Luigi Beschi, whom many residents of Desenzano still remember with affection, has once again come to the forefront of the news for this latest recognition.
Latest Honor
This time, the recognition comes from the highest office of the state. As mentioned, the President of the Republic, a few weeks ago, awarded him the gold medal for merit in culture.