L‘he had dreamed so much and today he finally received it: the University of Padua awarded a Giulia Cecchettinthe 22 year old from Vigonovo killed last November 11th, the honorary degree in Biomedical Engineering. Father Gino and sister Elena collected it personally and gave a speech.
Giulia Cecchettin had already submitted her thesis and was supposed to defend it on November 16th. Five days earlier her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta brutally kills her not far from home, in Vigonovo, and flees with his now lifeless body to Germany. His murder shakes Italy and animates an important debate on gender violencealso thanks to harsh and courageous words from sister Elena about patriarchy and rape culture.
Sister Elena: «I’ve always seen you as a genius»
Elena Cecchettin he was present in the university’s main hall, together with his father Gino and his brother. She was moved, she said: «Dear Giulia, my sweet Giulia, you don’t know how proud I am of you, I always admired you for how cute, sweet and smart you were, I’ve always seen you as a genius. You always said you had no memory but look what you managed to do, you managed to be such a good engineering student, a faculty that I knew was not the most similar to your romantic soulyet you did it great.”
In the photo, the graduation celebration at the University of Padua. From the left, Giulia’s father, Gino Cecchettin, her brother Davide, her sister Elena, the rector Daniela Mapelli and the minister Anna Maria Bernini. Photo ANSA /NICOLA FOSSELLA
“You have done many beautiful things for yourself and for us, and we must always remember this” added Elena. “However we must never forget how many things you could have done if the possibility had not been taken away from you. We must not forget this, so that no other woman is deprived of the possibility of doing so. Giulia, in your short life you managed to teach me so much and I will never forget it. Now I can say it, without you telling me it’s not yet true: congratulations, engineer.”
Father Gino: «My heart is pierced, you were an example of tenacity»
He confided that he didn’t feel happy, however, father Gino Cecchettin: «The degree award I had pending until a few weeks ago had a gorgeous girl as its protagonist, who couldn’t wait to wear his well-deserved laurel wreath. But then I thought: I think it is honoring the conclusion of his academic career in the best possible way an act of love towards him».
«I never thought I would find myself here, with a pierced heart, mourning your absence, You were not able to personally savor the happiness of your well-deserved achievement, At least for today I would like your name not only to be raised in memory of the tragic feminicide but to honor your extraordinary essence. You were an example of tapeworm and generosity.”
The rector of Padua: «You were our first violin»
It was there rector Daniela Mapelliin live video streaming, to open the ceremony with equally touching words: «It is with great modesty that I try to ask, in this moment full of emotions, to try to give Giulia a smile” he said.
«Today we hand over her degree, obtained by Giulia with such determination, to her dearest loved ones. I didn’t know her personally, but I would like to say that she knew how to leave an impression on the people she met, she was smiling, interested. She was “a first violin”, who for us teachers is the point of reference when we teach lessons, the student who can immediately give us feedback. Well, she was our first violin».
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