A chair of Italian culture in Beijing, with Prodi as holder. The initiative of the Agnelli Foundation. Elkann: “A lot of desire for Italy in China”

BEIJING – “I must say that it was a surprise for me, really. I was very pleased, I enjoyed it very much. The idea of ​​having a chair of Italian culture, of Italy, so to speak, in which every six months there is a representative of a different branch of culture is a very beautiful thing. Because a scientist, a politician, a historian, a literature professor will come: every six months they will speak to those in China who are most interested in that specific subject. It’s a nice cultural relationship.” Romano Prodi repeats it several times, intercepted by Republic shortly before the president’s lectio magistralis Sergio Mattarella at Peking University: “It was a surprise and I’m happy.” The former prime minister will in fact be the first holder of the Agnelli chair inaugurated today at Beida: a bridge with China to talk about Italy and encourage dialogue between the two countries.

“There is a great desire for Italy here in China. It’s a great opportunity,” he says John Elkannpresident of the Agnelli Foundation, shortly before Mattarella’s lectio. “It is the first born in this country on the initiative of a European non-profit institution, it is a bridge that we build to stimulate mutual understanding and peaceful collaboration between our countries: it will proudly tell China the best of Italian culture, of yesterday and today, and at the same time will strengthen the dialogue with the Chinese world in all its aspects. A particularly important objective in phases of uncertainty and global tensions such as the current one.”

The Agnelli chair of Italian culture, conceived and promoted by the Agnelli Foundation in collaboration with the TOChina Hub of the University of Turin, will be managed by the China-Europe Philanthropy Innovation Research Center (Cepirc) of the University of Beijing, among the first in the world. It will be operational from the spring of next year and aims to bring Italian culture in all its aspects closer to Beida students and teachers. It will work on a rotational basis: in each of the two academic semesters, a committee composed of the University of Peking, the Agnelli Foundation and the University of Turin will designate one holder, chosen from among teachers and experts who know how to convey a vision of culture historical and contemporary Italian language, analyzing the main determinants in fields ranging from humanistic and artistic disciplines to natural, social and applied sciences. Each teacher, who will reside in Beijing, will also be an ambassador of Italian culture in China, establishing contacts with Chinese academic communities in his subject, communicating with students to stimulate their interest in Italy. Furthermore, the chair intends to establish and make permanent opportunities for two-way dialogue between China and Italy, deepening mutual knowledge. The chair will be located within Cepirc, which is an autonomous structure of the University dedicated to developing cultural links with Europe and born from the years-long work of the Italy-China Philanthropic Forum, led by prof. Romano Prodi and prof. Giovanni Andornino of the University of Turin.

“The presence here today of the President of the Republic is the best gesture of support we could hope to receive,” says John Elkann during the inauguration speech. “The chair will embrace every expression of Italian creativity, across all eras: the wonders of past centuries, which have made my country known throughout the world, as well as the most advanced and modern facets, sometimes less known but very relevant, which together form the identity of contemporary Italian culture. Humanistic disciplines, social, natural and applied sciences, ranging from different subjects such as cinema, particle physics, industrial design, sport and much more”.

For Elkann, the most important spirit of this chair is that it is a bridge “to encourage dialogue between two countries and that through this it aims to unite two worlds, two cultures, in a spirit of mutual collaboration. Italy and China share a deep relationship that dates back centuries. Both have drawn and received countless inspirations from each other. They benefited from continuous exchanges of ideas and experiences, each maintaining its own distinctive traits. The chair that the Agnelli Foundation is establishing today here in Beijing has the aim of honoring and continuing this thousand-year relationship, encouraging harmonious collaboration”.

The one inaugurated today in Beijing is the fifth chair of the Agnelli Foundation in the world and in Italy. “In Italy, for example, the Agnelli Foundation established a professorship at the Bocconi University in Milan in 2013 in honor of my grandfather, the lawyer Agnelli. Recently, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of another academic program dear to us, the degree in Automotive Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin, my city. Other Agnelli chairs have been established in the United Kingdom at the University of Oxford, on Italian literature, and at Johns Hopkins, in the United States, on international relations: the latter, created together with Henry Kissingera friend of my family and of China with whom he began to build a bridge,” continues Elkann.

“Our motivation to start and develop these programs lies in our strong belief and passion for education. In this spirit, my family’s philanthropic activity, the Agnelli Foundation, has focused its activities on education, from nursery schools to higher education”, says Elkann again.

Which concludes by quoting a Latin saying “Docendo discimus (By teaching, we learn), which has a perfect correspondence in ancient Chinese literature, in Chinese: jiao xue xiang zhang. I think it sums up well the spirit of the initiative we are launching today.”