First Italophony Day at the United Nations (Prima Giornata dell'Italofonia alle Nazioni Unite)

Può una lingua avere un confine? Può nascere in un luogo, attraversare oceani. Può cambiare accento, incontrare nuove culture, essere imparata, insegnata, tramandata. L'italiano è la lingua della scienza e della tecnologia, dell'arte, della letteratura, della gastronomia. della moda e del design. Dall'Italia a San Marino, dal Vaticano alla Svizzera, fino a raggiungere il mondo intero. Oggi più di 2 milioni di persone scelgono di studiare l'italiano, perché l'italiano non appartiene soltanto a un paese, appartiene a chi lo parla

Just a second to tell you to please settle down. We're going to start in one second.

E a destra aggiunge le Nazioni Unite, dove il multilinguismo rafforza la comprensione e dove le parole possono diventare strumento di pace.

Welcome everyone. As you noticed, we're in line with the Italian style organization, always a little reluctant from being so strict with timing. We're starting with a few minutes delay. A dear friend of mine here in New York told me that he was trying to explain here in the US what the academic 15 minutes that is granted to students when classes start 15 minutes later, even if they're still 45 minutes long, and he was struggling to explain this idea, this notion. Despite this little delay, we will do things the right way. Your presence here today, seeing this full chamber, shows that I think we took a good initiative. We can see a participation that goes beyond our expectations. We're so happy to see you here so numerous on the first day of Italophony to the UN organized. by Italy alongside the permanent mission of Switzerland and San Marino. I welcome my colleagues. Today's event is part of the week of the Italian language in the world, whose theme this year is a brilliant language, conceiving, designing and creating in Italian. And that this theme encourage us to look at Italian as a language with a rich tradition, but also as a language of creativity and innovation. The first Italophony Day at the UN follows, directly follows the first international conference on Italophony held in Rome on November 18th, upon initiative of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani. On that occasion, The community of Italian speakers was established with the idea of celebrating and promoting the Italian language and many communities that around the world identify with Italy. We are particularly proud to bring this team to the UN, a place whose founding values include multilingualism and dialogue among cultures. Since the beginning of my tenure at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN, I had the pleasure of meeting many colleagues, senior officials, and friends I see here today who speak excellent Italian, who also enjoy speaking Italian at work every day. I had negotiations in Italian, but we also chatted about art, culture, literature, and we shared our enthusiasm for the Italian cuisine that was recognized by UNESCO as part of our intangible cultural heritage. These encounters, together with the strong presence of the Union of Italian officials inspired the idea of creating this community of Italian speakers at the U.N. alongside an initiative, the UNITE events, which we started a few months ago to showcase Italian excellence at the U.N. headquarters and many areas where Italy is active at the U.N. I'm very pleased to see that today we gathered many distinguished representatives of the Italian-speaking community here next to me, the. Thank you so much for being here with us today. and whose professional and personal journey allow us to highlight Italy's commitment to peace, sustainable development, and human rights. Her Excellency Dionne Keita, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNFPA, with whom Italy is closely cooperating to protect the rights of women and rights. Executive Director Khida took part in the celebrations at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 2026 to celebrate International Women's Day, and I want to thank her again for considering Italy and Italian people as her family. As you know, Rome is also the host city of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Hub. the World Food Program and International Fund for Agricultural Development. Here at the United Nations today, we'll have Angelica Jajome, Director of the New York Office, who will be here to promote with us our food security and sustainable development, combat food waste, and highlight the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. I'm very pleased also to have here with us is Excellency Archbishop Christophe Zakia El-Kassis, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. I'm sure that in many moments throughout his career in Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula, and Rome, just to name a few, using Italian was helpful in his daily work to promote and foster dialogue, peace, and trust among peoples. Dear friends, Italian is also the language of literature, art, science, technology, and music. This will be touched upon during the panel discussion with distinguished speakers. I thank them all for accepting our invite. Above all, Italian is a language that looks to the future. Today, around 2 million people worldwide are studying Italian, young people who choose to discover our culture and make their own. Some of them are here today, and I'm very pleased to welcome the student delegations, their teachers, principals who joined us today, they are the best evidence of how our language is alive and continue to thrive, continues to thrive. I'm very pleased to recall that to support education in low-income countries in this very chamber at the end of September, 3.5 billion U.S. dollar were pledged within the GPE initiative. co-chaired by Italy and Nigeria. Today, we've been invited to share our favorite Italian word. I want to choose the word friendship, amicizia, deeply rooted in Italian culture that can transcend linguistic and geographical boundaries and can open the way to dialogue with other cultures. More than 2,000 years ago, Cicero in his De Amicitia already recognized the essential role of friendship in fostering harmony and well-being of society and political life. Looking at this room today, we know that we can count on many friends here at the United Nations, and you know that you can count on Italy. Thank you. I now leave the floor to Her Excellency Diane Keita, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and the Executive Director of UNFPA. I thank you again for joining us today.

His Excellency Giorgio Marropodi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Italian Republic to the United Nations. His Excellency Damiano Belleffi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of San Marino to the United Nations. His Excellency Frank Gruter, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Swiss Confederation to the United Nations. His Excellency Archbishop Christophe Zachia in Cassis, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends and young people, it is a great honor to be here with you to celebrate the first Italian Italophony Day at the United Nations. I wish to express my most sincere gratitude to the permanent missions of Italy, San Marino and Switzerland, and to the permanent observer mission of the Holy See for this invitation and for bringing here to the United Nations headquarters a reflection on the value of the Italian language in global dialogue. This initiative does more than pay tribute to a linguistic heritage of immeasurable value. It reaffirms something profoundly important to the United Nations. The diversity of our languages and our cultures does not divide us. It actually enriches us and unites us. The Italian language has unique and unmistakable qualities. It is the language of harmony, beauty, art, and poetry. It is the language of Dante Alighieri, the father of the Italian language and a universal poet whose voice continues to speak across the centuries to cultures and generations far removed from his own. It is also the universal language of classical music and opera. From allegro to adagio, from crescendo to fortissimo, Italian has given the world the words with which to express music. But Italian does not belong to Italy alone. As I have seen during my many travels, it is a language found in the most unexpected places, carried around the world by generations of Italians and preserved by communities that, despite living far from home, have continued to pass it on. It has thus become a true universal vehicle for culture, crossing borders and generations, and building bridges between people. And this is precisely where the Italian-speaking world connects so deeply with the mission of the United Nations, because a language is more than just a collection of words. A language is a way of seeing others, a way of connecting with them, a way of recognizing their humanity. And this is also what we strive to do every day at UNFPA. The theme chosen for this first celebration, a brilliant language, imagining, designing, and creating with Italian, speaks directly to the heart of our work. We too imagine. We imagine a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. We, too, project and design through population data and an analysis of demographic trends. We help countries understand not only how many people there are, but who they are, where they live, what their aspirations are, and what they need to build their future. Because people are not a demographic problem to be solved. They are the driving force with which we build our future. And we, too, create. We create opportunities for women and girls to live free from violence and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and early child marriage. We create the conditions for women and adolescent girls can exercise their rights fully and make free and informed choices informed about their own bodies and their own futures. And we save lives, even in the most fragile settings and humanitarian emergencies, where cooperation with key partners, including Italy and Switzerland, makes a tangible difference every day. Thank you for this support. Excellencies, colleagues, friends, allow me now to share a very personal memory. My relationship with the Italian language began with my family, and particularly with my father. When he had the opportunity to choose the country to which he would be posted as ambassador, he could have chosen the United Kingdom, London. Instead, he chose Italy. He told me he had done so because he considered Italy an extraordinary country for its history, its culture, its beauty. and of course, its language. But above all, he believed that growing up immersed in Italian culture would have a profound influence on his children's lives. He was right. That is how I learned Italian, not only from books or at school, but by living in Italy, hearing the language every day, immersing myself in its culture, and little by little, learning to think in Italian too. All these years later, I appreciate even more deeply the gift my father gave us through that choice. Italy and the Italian language have left a profound mark on the person I have become, on the way I communicate, listen, and appreciate nuances, and perhaps even on the way I see the world, because Italian is a language of nuances. It even has words that are almost impossible to translate fully into other languages. One I particularly love is sfizioso, which brings together, in a distinctly Italian way, taste, aesthetics, and fun. Perhaps that is not such a bad quality for someone who has to shoulder complex responsibilities every day. And I must confess something, delivering this speech without moving my hands requires almost superhuman discipline. As you well know, Italian is not spoken with the voice alone. It's spoken with the eyes, the face, and, of course, the hands. And perhaps that is precisely what I love about it. It's a language spoken with the whole body and, above all, with the heart. Excellencies, colleagues, friends, at this historic first celebration of Italophony at the United Nations, we are celebrating far more than a language. We are celebrating a culture that over the centuries has known how to imagine, design and create. And we are celebrating linguistic pluralism as an essential part of multilateralism itself. In an increasingly divided world, we need more languages, that build bridges rather than walls, that bring people together rather than separate them, that remind us that beyond our differences, we all belong to the same human family. Let us therefore continue to imagine, design, and create together, and let this brilliant language continue to bring to the world its beauty, its humanity, and its extraordinary power to unite. guided perhaps by those immortal words with which Dante concludes the Divine Comedy, the love that moves the sun and the other stars, because in the end, this is precisely what should move us to love for humanity that we are called to serve. Thank you wholeheartedly, and let's celebrate this It's a Lawful Any Day here at the UN. Thank you.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome also on my behalf to the first Italophony Day at the United Nations. My name is Loredana Polezzi, and I'm endowed chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at Stony Brook University here in New York. It is a great pleasure to moderate this panel discussion entitled, "A Brilliant Language: Imagining, Designing, Creating in Italian." First of all, I'd like to thank the Ambassadors and Permanent Missions of Italy, San Marino, and Switzerland for organizing this important initiative, which brings the celebration of the Italian language to the heart of the United Nations. First and foremost, a brief practical announcement: simultaneous interpretation will be available from Italian into English and, as needed, from English into Italian, channel 1 for English and 6 for Italian. We're here to celebrate the Italian language, a brilliant and plural language, a language of places, peoples, and different worlds, a language that is ever beautiful and ever evolving, diverse, productive, creative, at once perfect and also imperfect. Within Italy, it takes many regional, social, disciplinary and generational forms. And beyond Italy, it drives Italian culture around the world, and it is interwoven with the roots of the diaspora. It is the language of science, art, and everyday life, the language that, as Diana Keta was reminding us, has created allegro, pianissimo, the music vocabulary of the symphony, but also endless variety of flavors of gelato. We're here at the United Nations, so Italian is also a language of diplomacy, the language in which in 1582, Elizabeth I wrote to the Doge of Venice, Niccolo da Ponte, signing herself amorevolissima, most affectionate, and the language of the letter of Giovanni da Verrazzano, whose name is inscribed in the history and topography of New York. and as an Italian, wrote in a report to the King of France, Francis I, in 1524, at the time whose service he had traveled across the ocean to these shores, Italian in all its form is also the language of desire, a language to be learned, loved, rediscovered, studied, and told through stories. It is not an exclusive property, but an open language for anyone who loves it, uses it, studies it, and interprets it. Because as a translingual writer and a dear friend, Amara Laku says, "Languages belong to those who care for them." And this is what I invite you all and invite us all to do, to take care of the Italian language for those who speak it around the world and all the languages in their diversity, multiplicity, and humanity. And now we move on to the remarks by our distinguished guests and very kind speakers. As Ambassador Marapodi and Under Secretary Kate highlighted, we all do our remarks also sharing our favorite words, our favorite Italian word, if they can. for students who joined us today for all the participants if you didn't do that already here you can see this banner and you'll be able to uh write your favorite Italian word later at the end of the event our first speaker is Michael Moore Professor adjunct professor at School of Art, Columbia University, is an interpreter and refined translator of Italian literature. Professor Moore, I give you the floor.

Thank you, Loredana. This is the second time that you chair a panel in which I am participating in. I'd like to start by giving a shout out to my colleagues in the English booth, which has often served as my own office. during the General Assembly proceedings. I'm usually present in this room as a disembodied voice, so it is a pleasure to be here in person. For many years, I worked for the Italian mission, and among the first friends I made there was the then first secretary, Giorgio Marapodi, who I am super delighted to see here today in his role as permanent representative. Turning now to today's theme, itilophony, I would like to tell you a story. Just one. I will be very brief. And as the interpreters know, when they say they're going to be brief, the speakers usually go on for an hour. But I swear I will be brief. A few months ago, I had the feeling that something was missing. The answer came to me while I was walking my dog along the East River. What I was missing was a daily practice that had sustained me for years, the experience of conversing in Italian. This malaise began, I think, in late November 2023, toward the end of a year in which Italy commemorated the 150th anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni. For over 15 years, I had been working on a translation of his novel, The Betrothed, in equal parts loved and hated by all Italians. That year, I had traveled around North America and Italy to present my translation, and I was tired. My final engagement was at a conference in Milan, Alessandro Manzoni, his works around the world. There, I was asked why I had translated this novel, and above all, why I, a phony Italian with no Italian ancestry, was so attached to the language. To answer, I needed only to glance past the door. The conference was taking place in the very building where my life with the Italian language had begun. Back in October 1975, On the other side of that same courtyard, I had waited to enter the sculpture studio. I had been in Italy for only a couple of weeks, knew no one, and spoke almost no Italian. But I was tenacious, stubborn in my folly. And folly is the word that I choose today, that doesn't force me to find a rational route to what I'm saying and talking about. In that same courtyard, friendships were born that continue to nourish and enrich my life today. And by adapting to the difficulties, I learned to be more understanding of other cultures, more open in my judgments, and more complete as a person. And I have to say that my perseverance my decision to stay in Italy during that period has been rewarded many times over. In those early years, I was painfully shy, and Italy is no land for the timid. I was afraid to even enter a trattoria, convinced that my Laurel and Hardy accent would make my fellow diners roar with laughter. Well, hunger is an unsparing teacher. and shyness was a luxury I could not afford. As my Italian improved, I learned to express feelings that shyness had locked inside of me. I began to dress better, no need to explain why, but I also acquired that exquisitely Italian style of expressing my wishes, my opinions, and my needs in the most roundabout way possible. I arrived in Italy with the dream of becoming an artist. Eight years later, I left with a different vocation discovered in those Italian years. I departed wanting to share what I had learned with my fellow Americans through teaching and translating what I had learned, the beauty that I had experienced. In the end, the best explanation for my love of Italian might well be found in my translation of these lines. the interior monologue of Lucia in The Betrothed as she leaves her native village. In Manzoni's prose, these reflections pass from her to her fiance, to her mother, but they are thoughts that belong to every immigrant in the moment that he or she is forced to leave home. And here I will speak in English and will be translated into Italian.

"Rising from the waters and reaching to the sky, Jagged peaks familiar to one who has grown up among you, etched in her mind no less clearly than the faces of those she holds dear. Farewell, rivers, whose roaring she knows as well as the voices of home. Farewell, small white villages clinging to the slopes like flocks of grazing sheep. Nothing could be sadder than the footsteps of one who, having grown up among you, must take her leave. But what about a girl who has never nursed even a fleeting desire to leave that setting? Torn from her most cherished habits and fondest hopes in a single moment, she leaves the mountains behind to follow in the footsteps of strangers she had no wish to meet, unable to even imagine the moment when she might return. Thank you.

Thank you, Professor Moore. Thank you, Michael. We're already late, so I ask everyone to be Very quick and succinct, we now turn to another dimension, art, at the crossover of art and science. I welcome Professor Michael Higgli, Professor of Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, Psychiatry at Yale University, and Serena Scapagnini, visual artist and art historian. I leave you the floor.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, good afternoon. I'm grateful to the permanent missions, Ambassador Marapodi, all the other distinguished excellencies and the organizers and all of you. I'm so pleased to accept the invitation to reflect on the value of the Italian language through our collaboration and the works that have emerged from it. Language lives through its diaspora, from Greek, meaning across, through, and spread its meaning and symbolism that we can trace in reverse. Language becomes a history of time, countries, places, and people who have given it a voice. My name is Serena Scapagnini. I am an Italian artist and art historian. My work is a form of research, not only visual, but also it involves giving things names, including the most invisible ones, an invisible rhythm, the inner rhythm of thought and its silence. the heart of my research when seeking to explore the biological mechanisms, neural cells and synapses, I wrote to Professor Igli, neuroscientist at Yale, and this gave rise of dozen, even hundreds of layered ethereal works devoted to this inner universe and to memory.

Hi, everyone. I'm very honored to be here with you, with Serena. I'd like to thank the organizers for this Ambassador Marapodi, Excellencies, distinguished guests, thank you for this wonderful opportunity. I'm Serena Serram, Professor of Neuroscience. In my laboratory, we study the mechanisms of neurons, how they work to generate thoughts, actions, movements, and so on. We focus in particular on synapses, the connections between neurons that form the brain's circuits. Indeed, the ability of these synapses to change and adapt supports the plasticity of the nervous system and, consequently, our memories. I'd like to share something a little bit more personal. I'm American, but my family comes from Italy. from Puglia, so I've always felt a connection to the Italian language and culture, and this is maybe the reason why when I received Serena's e-mail, an unusual e-mail from an Italian artist proposing a collaboration, I didn't put it in the trash folder. I thought it was a unique opportunity to forge a connection with Italy, and I replied, "Of course, why not?"

When I met Professor Higley, I didn't know about his Italian roots, and I can definitely bear witness to the powerful, never-silent resurgence of the Italian language. We have created within the languages of art and science. For more, the Italian language has given expression to the many nuances and meanings of our shared intuitions. from the most clearly defined to the most elusive for more than 13 years. It is as though words in a particular language can capture such intimate nuances as to reveal deeper truths about their meaning. I also think, for example, of the titles of our work, such as the latest piece presented at Yale for the permanent collection of the Hood Center Institute entitled "Silency." the changing memory and also changing canjante is my favorite word, meaning an interplay of these words become all the more eloquent in the language that carries them. The special qualities of the Italian language bring together a poetic sensibility, a musical sweetness that are entirely unique. Memoria can change, the changing memory, as Higley teaches us, is plastic, ever changing. We all remember by adding, subtracting, and revisiting what we have experienced through the lens of the present. We sought to capture the same openness and fluidity in our artwork, the ability to read the book of the world, which, in the words of Italian poet and Singer-songwriter Fabrizio De Andr has parole can and is una scrittura, changing words and no written script, perhaps.

Echoing Serena's word, this collaboration has been a journey to discovery sustained by detail and language, a journey of forging new and perhaps somewhat imaginative connections. I'd like to share two examples. The first is a giant neuron now on display in the Baroque church of Piemonte della Misericordia in Naples, and the second is a work of art by Serena featuring images of neurons on the cover of Neuron, a leading scientific journal that has published, just published a paper from my laboratory. Both are visual expressions of the power of the languages of science and art, especially of Italian as a force for building bridges across the world.

Grazie. Thank you both. And now we'd like to move on to another artistic form of expression that is music. It's a pleasure to introduce to you a Swiss artist, Gabriele Donati. Please take the floor.

Hello, everyone. My first favorite word is muse, from which music comes from. Italy is the language that taught the world to sing. If we open any music sheet from New York to Nairobi, we can see terms that are in Italian, allegro, piano, crescendo, adagio, rallentando, fortissimo. Even notes that we sing, that we sing, do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do, can be traced back to But music has another important characteristic, and that is harmony. The word in Greek, symphonia, means a concordance of sounds or agreements. Jazz is the music that I play is a good example of how musicians must listen carefully to one another, engaging in dialogue and creating something more meaningful together. And thus Among other things, UNESCO, every 30th of April, celebrates the International Jazz Day to promote dialogue and unity among peoples. Listening, respecting differences, and building something greater together, this is the mission of the United Nations, and it is what music teaches us every day. Italian has given music its words. Music gives us a way to understand one another, perhaps, to create peace. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Gabriele, for this wonderful performance. Now we can open to the debate, and we're very pleased to leave the floor to many permanent representatives who can speak Italian and who have a personal relationship bond with the Italian language. Please try to be concise and keep your remarks to few words, and also to share their favorite Italian word. Permanent representative Isabelle Picot. Picco, the Permanent Representative of the Principality of Monaco, asked to take the floor.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank the Permanent Representatives of Italy, San Marino, and Switzerland for inviting me to the first day of Italofony here at the UN. the Genoese origin of the Grimaldi family, who started the principality, set up this longstanding history that is still alive today. So we have Italian roots, but Italian language. So it's part of our identity, as highlighted by President Mattarella during his official visit a few days ago. And I'm quoting him, "The cultural relationship between the principality and many Italian towns participating in the Italophony initiatives with initiatives that preserve the relationship with the Grimaldi family is a token to the friendship and his longstanding historical relationship between the principality and Italy. And we participated in the initiatives of the Week of Detail Language all over the world with the title, the Strength of Dialogue, Words, Stories, and Experiences. The world increasingly needs dialogue, sharing experiences, and most of all, to remember the stories that unite us, as eloquently expressed by the panel members, circulating ideas can help us overcome diversities and help us reflect upon cultural diversity, strengthening humanity. that we share and humankind that we share. My favorite word, I have so many that I love, but the sound of the word, "unconceivable," inconcepibile, because this is what an Italian cannot accept, the strength of creativity, the strength of reflection and working, making this adjective a challenge to overcome. And this challenge, I hope, here at the United Nations, we take it on and we overcome it. Thank you very much.

I thank Ambassador of the Principality of Monaco. And now I give the floor to the Ambassador of San Marino, Damiano Belleffi.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I am particularly happy today because after 18 years of life at the UN, I can say for-- I can talk in the first time in Italian in an event at the UN. is certainly something that's very important to me. Italian is my language, that of the San Marinese, of the Republic of San Marino. And having listened and with great interest to the introduction of our illustrious rapporteurs, I am firmly convinced, and I have to confess, actually, that I'm more and more convinced that the Italian language is not only beautiful, but also magnificently genius. It's not born of a need for power, a need for a bureaucratic administrative structure, for an exercise of its power on a certain territory, but it is born without a state, put together and kept together in the centuries probably only by the beauty, imagination, creativity, and splendid stubbornness. It's a language invented by poets, literati, merchants, navigators. It could not be limited simply to describing reality in the world, per se, but it had to transform and shape it in some way. The Italian language certainly can be considered like a drawer full of tools where you can design, create, project. Let's think, for example, about the beautiful play of nuances in the language, in the Italian language, thanks to its subliminal play of suffixes, like house, casa, could be casina, casetta, casaccia, casone. And it's a language that distinguishes emotional nuances that are actually overlapping in other languages. I think, for example, not the counter position, but the differences in voler bene, to want good for someone, in other languages, this collocation and nuance doesn't exist. So thanks to the totality of these nuances that we, in fact, as Maestro Donati said earlier, Italian is capable of describing the world in a very colorful way, extremely colorful. What else can I say? Certainly, it's a language that is alive, splendidly thriving. And even if at times it could take loanwords from other languages, Italian tolerates a high level of anglicisms and Frenchisms. It is capable of imagining its future with its own words. So if I were to choose a word that I prefer, that I really like, I would choose a modal verb that often characterizes the activity of we diplomats at the U.N., and that is precipitously, which would mean cascadingly is a word that we use and we often act in that way, cascadingly. Thank you.

Thank you, Ambassador Baleffi. Now we give the floor to the Permanent Representative of Albania, Her Excellency Suella Giannini.

Excellencies, I'd like to thank the Permanent Missions of Italy, San Marino, and Switzerland for promoting this day, offering the United Nations an opportunity, an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate a language, but also a community of people who share culture, interest, and dialogue. I'd like to share with you all a personal memory, which makes today even more meaningful. Italian was the first foreign language I learned, and other than the young, I never put foot in Italy. the most interesting thing is that I didn't learn it at school, but through television. It may sound incredible, and I wonder whether this is one of the most unique cultural phenomena of our recent history. A whole generation of Albanians who, without formally studying Italian, could learn the language by watching TV, watching TV shows, singing songs like Lasciatemi Cantare, Volando, very famous Italian songs. But Italian TV was more than a screen we were watching. It was a window open onto a world that we wanted to know. through Italian, through a language we could find out about new experiences, way of thinking, mindsets. We learned a language before we realized that we were learning more. And through this language, we started understanding the world. If I think about this again, I think this is absolutely extraordinary, a wonderful experience that shows that human desire to communicate and know cannot be constrained by any kind of barrier. Even when formal tools are not available, culture can find its own way out. This is why when we today talk about Italo-phony in Albania, we do not just talk about a language, we talk about a whole generation of a shared memory, collective memory, and a human bond that was built through spontaneity, through the voices, images, and words from another country. And this is maybe one of the most beautiful lessons that we can share here at the UN. A language can open a window into the world before the world can open its doors. Friendship is definitely the word that I want to choose that marks our relationship with Italians and the UN. Thank you.

Thank you, the Ambassador of Albania. Now we'd like to give the floor to the Ambassador of Argentina, Francisco Vitoripepe.

Hello, everyone. Dear Giorgio, colleagues, friends. It's a true pleasure to participate in this event dedicated to the Italian language at the UN. I was born and raised in a family and an atmosphere that was very Italian, not only for the food and culture, but also for its language. At home, we spoke also the Sicilian dialect, and as I do. Millions of Argentinians have a similar story. Argentina has one of the greatest Italian communities throughout the world. Beyond Italy, there are hundreds of thousands of Italo-Argentines, and Italy's influence is still very strong in our identity. It is a beautiful language that is part of our daily lives. and is profoundly tied to the Argentinian culture. The Italian language is present in the way we speak, in the words we use, in the intonation, and even in our gestures. Today, Italian is one of the most studied languages in Argentina. The Dante Alighieri Society is present in every corner of our country, one of the greatest societies abroad. There are hundreds of bilingual schools as well. Argentina participates in the work of international organizations that are Latin American organizations that are also present at the United Nations. During the UNGA, we have also participated in the Italo-phony event last year. For this reason, for many others, we are very happy to celebrate this Italo-phony day here in New York at the UN. I would like to thank the Italian mission of San Marino and Switzerland for having organized this important meeting. The word that I choose is unity. Thank you.

I thank the ambassador of Argentina. We have room for one more speech. The permanent representative of Canada will take now the floor. Ambassador Lamecki, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Italia, San Marino, and Switzerland. I'm very proud of being here today and speaking my native language. Even if I come from Canada, I spoke Italian first at home, even if I received my formal education in English. You can hear the dialect accent from Marche. I was also a professor in Italy, and I got used to speaking Italian academic language, and so I'm so sorry. I'm also used to the 15 academic delay so I'm sorry for being here late the history of our relationship is law is long 5 million of Canadians are of Italian origin we as a community have very strong bonds with Italy and with the Italian language and And I have to say also, as a community, we contributed to Canada's development in a very concrete way, the very founding of the country, but also in many other fields, not just thinking about engineering, but also politics, business, and in general culture. I would say the Italian Canadians are very prominent in leadership roles. I'd like to mention Franka Tabuchi, the first judge of the Canadian Supreme Court. I was the first minister of justice in the history of the Italian Canadian history, but I was not the first minister. And I'm very proud of my tenure as minister of justice because It was the first time that 600 Italians were pardoned. They had been held captives during the Second World War. It is true that when we think about Italy, we think about culture, cuisine, fashion. Multiple times, music, literature were mentioned today. In my life, Lucio Battisti, De Andr, and more recently, Gian Maria Testa were familiar names. And I'd like to think about the future as well. Italians are talented. They are innovators. We're thinking about artificial intelligence, but also engineering. and many other areas where biotechnology, Italy has to take its own place in the world. And to support you, you can always count on Canada as co-facilitator, my favorite word, as a legal expert, is more an idea, notion, to fare bella figura, something that I learned at home. It's like to-- and this is something that I heard multiple times everywhere. This is like one of the most important principles in the everyday life. It's more important than anything else. Bella figura means to always be in good shape wherever you go and do a good job. It's my favorite word. Thank you.

Thank you to all the permanent representatives for joining us and also for being so succinct. We are late 15 minutes, exactly the academic delay. We have space for a few comments from the audience. Please be brief. And we also call upon all the students here with us to share their ideas, their thoughts, to break the ice. I asked some of our students from the Italian program at Stony Brook to share a few words their relationship with the Italian language we call them stories on how we can meet in New York meet Italian in New York please be very brief

my name is.

Italian was part of my family culture, but my grandfather didn't teach his children because he wanted them to integrate fully into American culture. And with time, they lost the language. I started studying seriously Italian at high school, in high school, and thanks to friendships and university, I started to use it even outside of the classroom. And today, I would like for Italy to be, Italian to be part of my life. and I would like to teach Italian to give others the same opportunities that this language has given to me.

My name is Francesca, and Italian is not simply a language that I speak with a part of my identity. I grew up speaking Italian and English thanks to my mother, born in Naples, who transmitted to me the love for the Neapolitan dialect. Every summer, I go back to Naples, where I have one of the fondest memories with my grandparents going to the bakery to get warm torpedo rolls for our Sunday dinner. I speak Italian at home, even when I'm far away. Through my Italian studies, I will continue to cultivate this part of me with the promise of transmitting it to future generations.

Okay.

If I said I'm Italian, then they would say, no, you can't speak. And if I'm not Italian, I cannot speak, who am I? And then I learned that I am a girl who could learn different languages and dialects abandoned by her family, which is just a memory. I'm a student who learned standard Italian. Who am I? Am I American or am I Italian? I'm both. I'm Italian-American.

My name is Isabella. Italian was the first language I learned, the language of my childhood, my family, the summers I spent in the Mediterranean, chats with friends in the small alleys, at Christmas. Speaking Italian, I feel like a different person, as if my thoughts could be changed by the language that shapes them. Since I started studying in college, I keep trying to more and more because I miss it, because Italian for me is more, is the way I can feel at home.

An experience I lived that I can't forget is a question that was asked when I was in middle school, "Why don't you study Italian with your last name?" And that's when I started thinking about that. My My grandparents were born in Sicily, but my family didn't learn the language, so I promised to myself to learn Italian in college two years ago. I took my first class and I'm learning Italian still now today. Thank you.

My name is Elettra. I was born and raised in the US. My family always lived in Italy. I learned English and Italian at the same time, but I could improve my knowledge of my native language only in college. Unfortunately, dialect and knowledge of the language disappeared in my family. we need to be perfectly-- speak Italian perfectly and using perfect grammar. So by learning Italian, a very good Italian, it allowed me to participate in conversations and feel comfortable when talking with my family, but also learning other Romans languages. And it makes me feel closer to my cultural roots.

My name is Francesca. I was raised by immigrants, my dad from Italy, my mom from Chile. There was an invisible battle between two languages. I attended public school in New York, and then I learned English, but Spanish was the main language at home. My dad learned Spanish from my mom and English to work, and he didn't have many opportunities to speak Italian, so he would have much... easier to learn Spanish at school, but I decided to learn Italian to preserve my dad's culture, not just for myself, but also for him.

My name is Stella, and I was raised by two southern spirits, a Neapolitan and a Sicilian. My first language was Italian, the language of the family, of school, and of many stories. In the home, I would hear Neapolitan, I would understand it, but I was also taught to learn correct Italian. I consider dialects an extreme wealth. my plural languages opened and paved the way for me to reach the world after studies and travels and an encounter with different cultures I found a way to communicate and think that is different and every time I leave it's Italian that I bring with me the language of my roots of my identity and of my story thank you

okay Thank you. Unfortunately, we have very little time and it dictates us to come to the conclusion of this event. And it was for me, it is for me a pleasure to present to you the last two speakers. We have His Excellency, Monsignor Christophe El-Kassis, who is the permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations. You have the floor, Excellency.

Thank you, Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, dear students. I would like first to express my gratitude to the Permanent Missions of the Italian Republic, the Republic of San Marino, and the Swiss Confederation for organizing this first day of Italophony at the United Nations. Addressing the participants in the Jubilee of Italian Diplomacy on the 13th of December 2025, Pope Leo XIV recalled that through its own language, every nation expresses a specific understanding of the world, from the highest values to the most everyday customs. Words are that common heritage through which the roots of society we inhabit flourish. These words help us understand why, in this context, highlighting the beauty and value of a language does not merely mean promoting a tool for communication. A language preserves a memory, expresses a culture, and reflects a particular human experience. At the same time, when it enters into dialogue with other languages, it becomes a means of encounter. The Holy See has a unique relationship with the Italian language. Italian is indeed one of the most widely used working languages within the Holy See. But there's a deeper reason. The successor of St. Peter, the Pope, is the Bishop of Rome. from Rome, the Supreme Pontiff addresses urbi et orbi, the city and the world, and does so in Italian in his ordinary teachings. In this way, the Italian language becomes a vehicle for a language of faith, of dialogue, and peace. In effect, in addition to reaffirming his brothers and sisters in the Catholic faith, the Pope also addresses all men and women of goodwill who share these values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and respect for human dignity throughout the world, without any distinction. Furthermore, the presence of the Pope and the Curia in Rome has fostered, over the centuries, a large number of pontifical universities. Lay people, seminarians, and religious men and women from all over the world go there to study philosophy, theology, canon law, and many other ecclesiastical disciplines and humanities taught in Italian. This allows the Italian language to reach even the most remote places. Those who have studied in Rome, once they return to their home countries, bring with them the Italian language and culture they have experienced, adding them to their own language and traditions In this way, they personally embody the value of multilingualism that is well known here at the United Nations. The General Assembly Resolution number 76/268 reaffirms the importance of linguistic diversity and multilingualism, and calls for the promotion of the preservation and protection of all languages used by the peoples of the world. Multilingualism is not, therefore, a mere technical issue. It is a choice that recognizes that the international community is composed of diverse peoples, each bearing its own history and its own worldview. If, as Pope Leo XIV reminds us, every language expresses a specific understanding of the world. The multilingualism of the United Nations allows these differences, these different understandings, to come together, fostering, as the UN resolution itself acknowledges, unity in diversity, international understanding, tolerance, and dialogue. And it is precisely in this encounter that multilateralism finds one of its deepest foundations. in intercultural understandings. And for this reason, the Holy See looks at Italophony, not merely as a celebration of a language and a culture, but as a contribution to dialogue among peoples and civilizations. It is not a coincidence that at the dawn of Italian literature, marked by the Canticle of the Creatures, we have St. Francis of Assisi. whose eighth centenary we are celebrating this year. In this House of Nations, Italian can continue to contribute to a culture of encounter, of cooperation and peace, while respecting and valuing all other languages. Because taking care of words, even disarming them when necessary, means taking care of relationships, and taking care of relationships means ultimately taking care of peace. My personal experience has brought me to leave in 96 Lebanon to go to Italy to study and then I stayed there for 15 years. But when I returned to Lebanon for a year, my relatives and friends would ask me, how are these Italians? And I thought about it, how are Italians? And I thought, well, Italians talk with their hands, they use gestures. And these, basically they're Lebanese that speak Italian because they're just like us, we do the same thing. And the word of choice is, word of choice is, "Padre Eterno," eternal father. Thank you.

Thank you, Your Excellency, for your contribution, your reflections. And we're now pleased to welcome Angelica Jacome, director of the FAO Liaison Office here in New York. I leave you the floor.

Thank you, Loredana, for giving me the floor. I apologize because I will give my remarks in Italian because I don't want to butcher such a beautiful language. as a pandemic, and I'm not scared of the 15-minute delay. We have the one hour, which is even worse. So I'll try to be very brief.

Ladies and gentlemen, as an unapologetic Italophile, it is an honor to provide closing remarks in the commemoration of this first Italophony Day. I wish to therefore express my sincere appreciation to the permanent missions of Italy, San Marino, and Switzerland to the United Nations in New York for inviting me to take part of this momentous occasion. Language is not only an instrument of communication. It fosters exchange through cultures, history, and concepts, and allows us to have a common understanding across countries, institutions, and communities. Like food and agriculture, language is an expression of culture and identity that connects people to their territories and traditions. Similarly, it is a convener that furthers collaboration, harmony, innovation, and shared values. For these reasons, This observant resonates profoundly with the mandate of the FAO. We're transforming to more efficient, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient agri-food systems. Leaving no one behind depends on achieving common ground around a shared purpose. The rich heritage of the Italian language embodies the bridge we seek to build through multilateralism, knowledge sharing, and dialogue. As a romance language, the roots of Italian can be traced to classic Latin, and over time it transformed into vernacular. The language of diplomacy, as noted by Loredana, Tuscan literary notables such as Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are among the maximum expression of this vernacular. Following the unification, the language of poetry, philosophy, and universal human experience gradually became the national language. Beyond the confines of the Republic through migration, literature, art, and science, the Italian language links Italians with Italephones and Italephiles, regardless of country of origin. from the literary masterpieces ranging from the Divine Comedy, the Canzoniere, the Decameron, to The Betrothed, which was mentioned by Professor Moore, and The Leopard, Il Gattopardo, along with the rules of polite society enshrined in Il Galateo, the operas of Bellini, Rossini, and Puccini, among others, to cinematic gems such as La Dolce Vita, Cinema Paradiso, as well as the comedies of Roberto Benigni, and I cannot forget healthy diets, as per the Mediterranean diet. The Italian language has educated, amused, and touched readers, listeners, observers, and foodies across the globe and multiple generations. It is precisely the spirit of these contributions of the Italian language that serves to unite us around food, culture, memories, and values that we celebrate and embrace today. Before concluding, please allow me to share with you my favorite word in Italian, which is a bit linked to the Ambassadors of Canada and Monaco, which is sprezzatura. And this is a celebration of this effortless grace, this nonchalance possessed only by Italians that renders the most complex task easy, seem easy at least. And as proof of my love for Italian culture and the Italian language, I will share with you the name of my dog, which is Lorenzo il Magnifico, who, true to form, also exudes the sprezzatura of the Italians. So to conclude, I wish that this first ItalaFenid day be the beginning of enduring dialogue here at the United Nations, generating more spaces such as this to remind us of our commonalities and to drive collective action to uphold the principles we have committed to as part of an international community. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Angelica. Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, we're closing today's event of celebration. First and foremost, I'd like to thank all our distinguished speakers and all of you who joined us. And again, special thanks to the organizers for their hard work to conclude this first, definitely not the last, day of Italophony to the UN. We wanted to symbolically leave the last word to two representatives of younger generations who are the future of multilateralism. called upon in friendship, one of our shared words, to cherish the legacy of our language. I give the floor to two students from De Guglielmo Marconi to read the declaration from here in New York. We all symbolically commit to the community of Italofoni that was established last year, November 18th, in Rome. They will read the declaration

today, October 22, 2026, gathered in the Echoes of Chamber of the United Nations on the occasion of the first Italophony Day. We, young students, together with distinguished ambassadors, delegates, and members of civil society, proudly, enthusiastically declare our commitment to the Italophony community. We're united by our love for the Italian language, a language that builds bridges between peoples and cultures, promotes dialogue, friendship, and peace through this declaration. we pledge to help the Italophony community thrive and grow, carrying its values forward into the future.

With this shared commitment, we bring the first Italophony Day at the United Nations to a close with the hope Obviously, that it will just the beginning of a common journey to celebrate, promote Italian language as a tool for dialogue, culture, and cooperation. I wanna add just to conclude my favorite Italian word, a word from Tuscany, hard to translate like many other, which is gently mannered, garbato. I hope that the world and the future for all of us can be softer, gentle manner. Thank you again for joining us.