Paolo Cognetti – Utan att någonsin nå toppen: min vandring i Himalaya, Contempo 2019

Finally the weekend is ahead of us and so it is time for Reading Tips!

“In the end I really went there, in the Himalayas. Not to climb the peaks, as I dreamed when I was a child, but to explore the valleys“.

After the success of “Le otto montagne”/”De åtta bergen” and the literature award Premio Strega in 2017, Paolo Cognetti returns to the mountains with a new poetic novel.

“Utan att någonsin nå toppen: min vandring i Himalaya” is the illustrated and detailed story of the journey that the Italian author made at the end of his fortieth year of age together with his friends Nicola Magrin, who is a painter, Remigio, who has always lived in the Alps where Cognetti usually spends many months every year, and a group of men and animals.

The novel was published in Sweden by Contempo in 2019, with the support of C.M. Lerici Foundation.

Back to work!

After some days of vacation, we are back to work!

It could be difficult to return to everyday life, but we are ready for new exciting projects.

Even in these difficult times, in fact, we have received a lot of interesting applications about projects that are going to start within the next months. C.M. Lerici Foundation will support students and researchers during their journeys in Sweden or Italy.

The new call for scholarships will be open again from 1st December 2020 to 31st January 2021.

If you have a scientific or cultural project in mind and you would like to know how to obtain a scholarship, visit our website and discover how to apply on our website. 

Ennio Morricone

Today we would like to remember Ennio Morricone, who recently passed away. He was one of the most talented conductors and scores’ composers for the modern cinema.

Morricone composed over 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as over 100 classical works.

It is impossible to list all the soundtracks he created, but he surely became a legend for the scores in the spaghetti western movies, such as the one for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), that is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in history.

His filmography presents over 70 award-winning films, including all Sergio Leone’s films since A Fistful of Dollars and all Giuseppe Tornatore’s films since “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”. He worked for different film genres and he collaborated with many directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Terrence Malick, Brian De Palma, Dario Argento, Roman Polanski and Quentin Tarantino.

In 2007 Morricone received an Academy Honorary Award “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music”, while in 2016 he won his first competitive Oscar for his score to Quentin Tarantino’s film “The Hateful Eight”.

Ennio Morricone is no longer among us, but his music will never die.

Arwu 2020

If you are thinking about studying in Italy, then this article is for you!

The agency ShanghaiRanking Consultancy has created Arwu 2020, a ranking of the best universities by subject.

ShanghaiRanking Consultancy has collected data in over 4.000 universities from 90 countries around the world on the basis of 54 subjects from Natural Sciences to Social Sciences and the different engineering disciplines.

In this ranking, the best Italian universities are La Sapienza University in Rome, Padova University, MIP Politecnico di Milano, Università Bocconi and Università degli Studi di Milano. 

Read more here.

Premio Strega 2020 – Sandro Veronesi, “Il Colibrì”

“Dovrebbe essere noto, e invece non lo è, che il destino dei rapporti tra le persone viene deciso all’inizio, una volta per tutte, sempre. Lo sapevamo. Per un lucido, breve momento l’avevamo saputo, all’inizio, ma poi, per il resto della nostra vita, non lo abbiamo saputo più.“

The winner of Il Premio Strega 2020 is Sandro Veronesi with his last novel “Il Colibrì” by La nave di Teseo.

Sandro Veronesi’s novels “Stilla kaos” (“Caos Calmo”) and “Det förflutnas kraft” (“La forza del passato”) has been published in Sweden by Contempo.

We hope to read the Swedish translation of “Il Colibrì” as well!

20th anniversary of Øresundsbron

Culture and research create bridges that link different people and countries all around the world.

This is also the aim of the C.M. Lerici Foundation, that every year provides scholarships to Italian and Swedish students and researchers, who work on international projects and want to spend a period abroad in Sweden or Italy.

Today we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Øresundsbron, the Öresund bridge, that connects Sweden to Denmark. A passage made by steel and concrete that keeps Europe closer and united.

For 20 years, the bridge allowed the exchange of goods, culture, knowledge and inspiration. Every day year-round, thousands of people cross the Öresund bridge to reach college, work or leisure.

Björn Larsson

On the occasion of “Scrittori in barca” (“Writers on a boat”), the new project by L’Ora, edizione straordinaria, the Swedish writer Björn Larsson was interviewed by la Repubblica – Palermo. (You can read the interview here).

“Scrittori in barca” is a series of video interviews with authors who chose the boat and the sea as places of their lives and source of inspiration for their stories, made by men, sailors and merchants.

In this interview, Björn Larsson defines himself as “man of the south”, despite his Nordic origin. During the Facebook live for L’Ora, edizione straordinaria, Larsson told his relationship with Sicily, his love for the Italian author Leonardo Sciascia and how he learned Italian thanks to the Inspector Montalbano, the character created by Andrea Camilleri.

In Italy, Björn Larsson is especially known for his novel “La vera storia del pirata Long John Silver” (“Long John Silver”), translated by Iperborea Casa Editrice, that also published his other books. In Sweden, Björn Larsson is published by Norstedts.

Have you ever read one of Larsson’s novels?

Glad Midsommar

Glad Midsommar!

Happy Midsummer to everyone!

In Sweden this day officially marks the beginning of the Summer and Swedish people are ready to celebrate it.

Flower crowns are a symbol of this celebration, but are you sure to know everything about this day?

Here’s some news that will make you ready to honour Midsommar, wherever you are in the world!

GPR – Ground Penetrating Radar technology in Archaeology

Archaeology develops new research’s techniques.

Falerii Novi in province of Viterbo is an archaeological site between Civica Castellana and Fabrica in Rome.

Here a team composed of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Ghent used GPR – Ground Penetrating Radar technology to map the whole area.

The archaeologists found a city dating back to 241 BC. built inside the ancient walls of Falerii which are still visible together with the monumental Porta di Giove.

Read all the details here.

QS World University Rankings

The QS World University Rankings lists the thousand best universities in the world.

This year 36 Italian universities have been included in this list, two more than the previous edition.

The analysis is based on rigorous research that includes the opinions of lecturers, academics, and researchers and human resources managers and directors. It also includes the analysis of 18.530.368 scientific publications and 138.397.765 citations.

Politecnico di Milano (137th in the ranking) confirms itself as the first Italian University for the 6th consecutive year.

Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna gains the 160th place, while Sapienza Università di Roma conquers the 171st place.

If you are a Swedish student and you would like to study in Italy, you could find your next Italian academic destination in this list!

And then, do not forget to apply to the C.M. Lerici Foundation call 2021!

You can find the full article here.