The poignant story of Fabrizio Bernini, a pioneer of innovation with universal value, will be presented by Filippo Boni in his latest book Qualsiasi cosa accada (Aska).

The event will feature greetings from Maurizio Bigazzi, President of Confindustria Tuscany and Confindustria Tuscany Centro e Costa, and interventions from Eugenio Giani, President of the Tuscany Region, Agnese Pini, Director of QN, Maria Grazia Giuffrida, President of the Istituto degli Innocenti, and Fabrizio Bernini himself. Journalist Maurizio Naldini will moderate the discussion.

A light dinner will follow.

The Book:

On a Sunday afternoon in June, Fabrizio Bernini, a visionary entrepreneur and Italian pioneer of innovation, at the peak of his professional success, walking through the streets of downtown Arezzo during an Antiques Fair, sees a red scooter from the sixties at a stall and is struck. It was the same model of moped he rode as a boy, on the dirt roads of Valdambra, after a difficult childhood with his parents in the house of La Torre, in the municipality of Bucine. The sight of that scooter propels him back in time and pushes him into an introspective journey within himself, in search of the most authentic meaning of existence. Thus, aboard that old Guzzino, he sets off in search of the places of his parents' lives, facing and recalling their pains suffered from a young age. Ada, his mother, was abandoned at the Istituto Degli Innocenti in Florence: adopted by peasants from the village of Solata first and then by a hermit sharecropper from Rapale, she lived a life full of obstacles and loneliness. Alvaro, his father, after marriage, due to a family tragedy fell into the tunnel of alcohol and ended up dragging the whole family into affliction, including little Fabrizio, who grew up amidst difficulties and suffering. Like pieces of a mosaic, thanks to the historical reconstruction and the deep and poignant narrative of Filippo Boni, the memories collected in this book reconstruct the portrait and journey of a courageous and fearless man who despite the pains of existence always knew how to rise, pursued his dream and professional goals he had set himself until he became one of the greatest self-made men in the history of industrial Tuscany, defeating the specters that threatened to kidnap him forever since his childhood. Thus, the life of a man becomes also a universal lesson, a deep and authentic confession, a story that is a hope for young people and that urges them to never give up on their dreams.

The author and protagonist of the book:

Filippo Boni (1980) graduated in Political Science from the University of Florence with a thesis on Nazi massacres in Tuscany. A scholar and researcher of the twentieth century and the years of lead, journalist, he has published several essays on the Resistance and contemporary age including "The Heroes of Via Fani" (2018, Golden Fiorino at the Florence-Europe Prize, Longanesi), "The Last Survivor of Cephalonia" (2019, in the final quintet of the Acqui Storia and Fiuggi Storia Prizes, Longanesi) and "I Die for You" (2021, Finalist at the Robinson Prize - La Repubblica, Longanesi). His books have been the subject of theatrical adaptations, documentary films, and exam topics in schools. Filippo constantly develops cultural initiatives and follows educational projects for the preservation of memory together with documentation centers, public bodies, universities, schools, and associations. In 2018 he received the Silver Pegasus from the Tuscany Region.

Fabrizio Bernini (1957) Entrepreneur, in 1985 he founded the software house Centro Sistemi Srl and personally led its development to the present, innovative and multi-divisional (software, healthcare, automation, robotics, green innovation) Zucchetti Centro Sistemi SpA (ZCS) of which he is President and Legal Representative. A supporter of innovation culture, a pioneer of digitalization processes for companies and the healthcare sector, telemedicine, automation and traceability systems, environmental sustainability, inventor of revolutionary products like "Ambrogio" (the robotic lawnmower) and "Nemo" (the robotic pool cleaner), he launched "Azzurro" the line of photovoltaic inverters and energy storage solutions, now a market leader. Among the many national and international awards received in the field of innovation, the Prize of Prizes for Innovation (2010 and 2014). In 2017 he was appointed Knight of Labor by the President of the Republic Mattarella. Today he is also President of Confindustria Tuscany South and Vice President of Banca del Valdarno Credito Cooperativo.