Tomaso Montanari

thumb|Tomaso Montanari Tomaso Montanari (born 15 October 1971) is an Italian art historian, academic and essayist. Quotes As a dean, I never thought I would have to take a position on the death of Silvio Berlusconi. On the contrary, if I have been forced to do so, it is because of the Meloni government's unprecedented decision to declare three days of national mourning, during which the flags on public buildings are to be flown at half-mast. [...] There is no precedent for declaring national mourning for the death of a former Prime Minister who did not subsequently become President of the Republic. Therefore, it is a political decision, not an institutional one. [...] Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud by a final and binding judgment [...] his well-documented links with the Mafia [and, finally] what should my female colleagues, and even more so my female students, think as they walk through the doors of my university under flags flown at half-mast in honour of someone who systematically violated the dignity and equality of women, both physically and as individuals? Quoted in No al lutto nazionale per Berlusconi, continua la polemica su Tomaso Montanari, lanazione.it, 14 giugno 2023 [About Silvio Berlusconi] No joy – rather, the sadness one feels in the face of any death. But judgement, yes: because he certainly left his mark on history. But he left the world, and Italy, in a much worse state than he had found them. From the P2 scandal to his links with the Mafia via Dell'Utri, from his contempt for justice to the commodification of everything (starting with women's bodies, on his TV channels), from his proud vindication of Fascists to lying as a systematic method, from personal interest as the sole yardstick to property speculation as the destruction of nature. In this, and in so much more, B. was the exact opposite of a statesman – indeed, he was a grotesque inversion of the Constitution's vision. No hatred, but no hypocritical sanctification either. Today, remembering who he was is a civic duty. From a post on twitter.com, 12 June 2023. [...] For years now, a fierce cultural war has been waged by a more or less openly fascist right-wing faction: a battle whose aim is nothing less than state revisionism. In other words, it aims to erase the history that tells us what fascism really was, and what the criminal neo-fascism of the second half of the twentieth century was. It cannot be denied that some revisionist battles have been won, thanks to the political and cultural weakness of the Republic's leadership. The 2004 law establishing the Day of Remembrance (for the Foibe) close to and in clear opposition to the Day of Remembrance (for the Holocaust) represents the most resounding success of this historical falsification. Quoted in Neofascismo e revisionismo di Stato: è tempo di reagire, volerelaluna.it, 24 August 2021. [Regarding the accusations of foiba denialism levelled at him] This accusation of denialism is a slander. [...] I criticised the instrumental use of the foibe by a right-wing that has not come to terms with Fascism and that, at times, is still Fascist itself; I spoke about the fact that Remembrance Day was created to commemorate only some of the dead and not others, through a decontextualisation and deconstruction of memory. Those deaths were of interest because the victims died at the hands of the Communists, and what the still-fascist right in our country has tried to do is what historians call 'reversism': that is, to reverse history and attempt to equate fascism and communism in a way that restores fascism's rightful place. [...] Our Republic was founded on anti-fascist principles. I have never been a communist – I am a democratic Catholic; I was brought up on Dossetti, La Pira and don Milani – but it is a fact that the Communists in Italy wrote the Constitution, that Terracini was the president of the Constituent Assembly, and that the Fascists were forever banished from Italian democracy. In recent years, there have been attempts to rewrite history, and Remembrance Day is part of that effort. From the TV programme Otto e mezzo, LA7, 17 September 2021; video available on youtube.com (from minute 00:40). Arte è liberazione *Tomaso Montanari and Andrea Bigalli, Arte è liberazione, Gruppo Abele, Torino, 2020. ISBN 9788865792353 Well, no European people are as mixed-race as the Italians, the result of countless merges that leave their mark on every aspect of their culture. And any attempt to construct a ' purity', in retrospect, even in the most limited areas, is bound to descend into the ridiculous. (p. 53) As we stopped, we realised how fast we were running towards the abyss. We call it progress: but are we sure that what is leading us towards death (of the planet, of justice, of human relationships) can really be called that? (p. 70) [...] Few things, like meditation, reflection and deep thinking, can trigger revolutions. (p. 89) Quotes about Tomaso Montanari, uno su cui si può sempre contare per leggere un'opinione pensata male. Tomaso Montanari, someone you can always count on to read a poorly thought-out opinion. Guia Soncini, [https://www.linkiesta.it/2020/07/chiara-ferragni-uffizi-fedez/ Duemila anni di storia, i musei, l'arte e i peggiori intellettuali del mondo], linkiesta.it, 20 July 2020. External links Montanari, Tomaso Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Historians from Italy Category:Essayists from Italy Category:Catholics from Italy