Ventotene cultural hub named after David Sassoli

The Italian government has named the Scuola di Alti Pensieri, part of the Progetto Ventotene for the recovery of the Santo Stefano prison on Ventotene island, after David Sassoli, the late journalist, politician and President of the European Parliament who died on January 11. The prison is where the Ventotene Manifesto was drafted in 1941 by Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi, anti-fascist dissidents exiled on the island. After 50 years of abandonment, the Italian government in 2020 launched a €70 million recovery project to transform the site into a cultural hub symbolizing Europeanism. Extraordinary Commissioner Silvia Costa and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini proposed the naming to Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who stated that Sassoli's death is a great loss for Italy and Europe and that dedicating the project to him traces an ideal line between two moments of European rebirth. The project involves restoring all buildings, redeveloping Piazza della Redenzione, creating a Mediterranean garden, and restoring the landscape of the former football field and arrival routes. Sassoli himself had praised the project in a September 17, 2020 speech from Brussels, calling the prison a cornerstone of Italian history and emphasizing the cultural heritage's role in European citizenship.