«Forgotten Guglielmo Marconi»: controversy in Golfo Aranci, where the scientist carried out his tests
The Maremosso Committee: «How is it possible that nothing was organized to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great inventor?»
With the National Committee for the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Guglielmo Marconi, established a few months ago, with the aim of paying homage to the figure of the Nobel Prize winner, the Ministry of Culture presents and launches initiatives throughout the national territory. But Golfo Aranci – where the inventor conducted some of his most important experiments – has not arrived.
The Maremosso citizens' committee denounces the absence of events to remember the "father of wireless" and radio who carried out the first short-wave radio connection test from the Gallura town.
«April 25th in Golfo Aranci is not only the day of Liberation Day, it should also be the birthday of Guglielmo Marconi who chose Capo Figari as a place of experimentation but, if the rest of Italy is full of events, thanks also to the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, nothing at all in Golfo Aranci." Not even an institutional statement or social content in the official channels of the municipal administration. Initiatives, interrupted for three years but, according to Maremosso, more urgent than ever both due to the importance of the anniversary and in light of the future (and presumed) fate of the former Semaforo from which the pioneer of radio communications in 1932 managed to connect with the station of Rocca di Papa, which risks being transformed into a hospitality facility.
«The traffic light at Capo Figari, as we have well documented, risks, thanks to an agreement between the Region and a private company, becoming a luxury hotel for a select few, destroying a delicate ecosystem such as that of the Capo Figari nature reserve» , says the citizens' committee which, for months, has been waging a battle to protect the historical and environmental asset, including a petition on Change.org which has collected over 58 thousand signatures.
«We asked ourselves – adds the Committee – if it made sense to organize a promotional activity for this anniversary, combining the popular battle with an animation capable of restoring the cultural value of the former traffic light and the figure of Guglielmo Marconi but we have not found a collaborative support from the institutions that saw our activities as attacks on their inertia and which, instead of enhancing and protecting, sell off the territory in favor of the interests of a few".
On the island, Guglielmo Marconi was instead remembered yesterday in Ittiri, where the Radio Museum is located.
