Circolo Esteri di Roma is 85 years old. The Foreign Ministry Attaché is a prestigious Italian institution that honors the state system. – Carlo Franza’s blog

It was founded in 1936 by the then Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano, with the aim of representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Circolo degli Esteri, now an institution attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of the most vibrant cultural institutions in Rome; It still maintains a strong international mission and contributes to the institutional and representative activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, hosts official ceremonies and presents itself as an elegant venue for formal and informal business meetings. I specify that it is only in Italy that Italian diplomats have such great accreditation because neither the French nor the German diplomats have anything similar. Opened on May 30, 1937, Circolo Esteri di Roma enjoys life at the bend of the Tiber (Lungotevere dell’Acqua Acetosa 42), exactly in a territory that corresponds exactly to the battlefield of Ponte Milvio fra Maxentius (who drowned in the waters of the Tiber) and Constantine in 312 after The messiah. Circolo Esteri is a very prestigious place, here then-President Silvio Berlusconi walked down the aisle in the years he saw him at Palazzo Chigi, here he meets diplomats living international summits, here he meets visiting dignitaries and tables. Prime Ministers. This is because the club is a place of meetings and exchanges between Italian and foreign official circles, a visible brand of culture due to discussions and book presentations, as has happened recently with The volume written by Ambassador Gaetano Cortez at the Italian Embassy in Madrid. When Paolo Gentiloni was foreign minister, he defined him as “a source of international projection” and Giulio Andreotti said: “I envy you for the time you can devote to the club’s activities.”

The club is based on Lungotevere dell’Acqua Acetosa, right in the center of Rome and spread over an area of ​​three hectares. Meanwhile, we have the historic building from 1937, which was born as a post-MFA business, as well as an affiliate building that was acquired in 2006 when the adjacent Army Club closed. Life comes alive with dignity in a large and spacious garden with beautiful Mediterranean pine trees, an outdoor restaurant, tennis courts, 2 swimming pools and a fitness room; But besides this subsequent sporting work, Circolo della Farnesina, as former President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (in 2007 appointed honorary member), “sees its role as the seat of important diplomatic meetings growing year by year.” International.” Lamberto Dini, former Minister of Foreign Affairs for five years, emphasized that the club presented “the character of an ideal and material extension of Farnesina, as an institutional seat for international meetings. There is more, because culture and art live here Powerful moments. Suffice it to say that the foreign club is a place where “art in the service of diplomacy” and “diplomacy in the service of art,” so much so that US Ambassador Ronald B. Circolo is an example of admiration for contemporary Italian artistic production”; Among the artists in attendance are Giorgio de Chirico, Pietro Casella, Sandro Chia, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Mimo Palladino, Marisa Setimbrini, Arturo Fermi, Bruno Mangiatierra, Eugenia Serafini, Primo Formenti and others. The club’s cultural tradition is also intense, offering a rich calendar of in-depth musical, literary, artistic and scientific events. It is a profession that is also embodied in the important exhibition dimension associated with contemporary art. The prestigious art collection displayed in the indoor and outdoor spaces of the club makes it truly unique in the panorama of the Roman circuits. Dance parties, themed evenings, charity events, bridge courses and buraku tournaments enrich the rich program of social activities. The book “Il Circolo del Ministero degli Affari Esteri’ by Ugo Colombo Sacco d’Albiano, published in 2008, recounts the events for which the association has been considered the hero of the capital’s social life and diplomacy since its opening in 1937. The volume highlights the ‘progressive role’ Institutional “The club has acquired over the years in addition to the traditional social, recreational and sporting functions. This role is highlighted by international events that find a fifth of prestige in their spaces: a definite achievement in terms of representing the institutional activity of the Ministry. The club, which has about 3000 members, of whom 850 are complex, also plays , as the volume demonstrates, has an important function in projecting a high-level image of the ‘state system’ and, at the same time, in promoting our cultural production, Italian lifestyle and ‘Made in Italy’, providing an international framework and a climate of friendly openness and intercultural dialogue. …the volume also illustrates the historical dimension of the club. The twenty-four presidents who have led the club or have driven its activities from 1937 to today are uniquely called a red thread exemplary to unite our diplomacy’s past and present. Thus, an unpublished picture of Italian diplomacy appears through the events of some of its emblematic characters“.

At the end of the 1940s, Circolo degli Esteri won entry to the A series of water polo and Subsequently, the swimming division was sold to AS Roma. In the 1950s, the available space was expanded, with the purchase of adjacent land belonging to the Department of Agriculture, and the structures were greatly improved. A “witch” period began for the club that lasted about a decade. The role that Roma played in the Dolce Vita, the capital of cinema, but also a great center of the world had an impact on the life of the club which, thanks to its elegance and sophistication, also attracted great interest among movie people, who were in Rome filming or installed their home there, such as Audrey Hepburn, who married Andrea Dottie, a member of the club. Nicolas Petrangely, who was then at the top of his career, trained in our fields.

At the end of the 1950s, the State Department moved to the new headquarters of Farnesina. The greater proximity to the Circolo headquarters favored its use for representational purposes, both on an official level, as a secondary alternative to the Villa Madama, and for use by members for private ceremonies. Initially, I preferred to increase my acting activities An evolutionary line that would culminate in an unusual and further enrichment of the club from an aesthetic and decorative point of view, as well as from a practical and functional point of view. In the latter part of the twentieth century, the construction of sports facilities in Rome proliferated and competition increased between established clubs, each of which sought to improve its image and increase its prestige. Moreover, membership in the club assumes the value of one A status symbol. In this period leading up to the renovation work, the foreign club managed to establish, under the guidance of the brothers

Ambassadors Alessandro and Umberto Vattani as presidents of the club (first for seven and second for 11 years), a lively environment filled with attractions, offering members a wide sports and cultural offer and various forms of social entertainment, while maintaining to this day the same identity profile, of elegance and sobriety. Significant expansion works have been carried out in the building Headquarters, renovation of sports facilities, restoration and transformation of the interiors of the historic building. Pioneering are the partnership agreements with the Academy of Santa Cecilia and Italian and foreign geographical societies such as the American Academy and the Herziana Library of Art History. The club also hosts the CinemMAE Short Film Festival, which featured such personalities as Gillo Pontecorvo, Farzan Ozbek and Bobby Avati. As it should be noted, the project for the current exhibition of contemporary art – developed by it – is entitled “Mondi” (2019-2023) and was launched to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Farnesina collection. The club is today in the hands of the President and Minister Plenipotentiary Luigi Maria Vignali, who will finish his work. Three years for president in February 2022.

“I made it my second home,” said Morocco’s ambassador, Abouyaub Hassan. and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, former Apostolic Nuncio in Italy: “An ideal environment where leisure is transformed into useful time.” I cannot exclude the words of the Honorable Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister, who wrote among other things: “The pleasant atmosphere that one breathes in Palazzina dell’Acqua Acetosa is also the result of a compliment in the service of strengthening personal and institutional relations … I consider myself in this Good hands of its administration and all of its most active members: I would like them to know that behind and by their side, whenever the need arises, they will have a Prime Minister present and engaged they can always count on.”

Circolo degli Esteri can reflect herself with bright pride in her pastAnd Rich in events as well as the passion and dedication of those who have dedicated themselves to it. This beautiful place is made possible by the commitment of past generations, but is above all the fruit of an “immaterial value”, which has slowly settled over time and has increasingly become an identity, and undoubtedly the spirit of partnership. .

Today more than ever, looking into the future, it is necessary to gather this ideal impulse to reinforce the great heritage of the club, as well as to adapt it to the demands of the younger members – both for cultural activities and for sports activities – and a new proposal. Unmissable activities and opportunities.

Carlo Franza