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Lo scorso 17 ottobre ha assunto l’incarico a Praga il
nuovo Direttore dell’Istituto italiano di Cultura. Si
chiama Paolo Sabbatini, ha 56 anni e negli ultimi
cinque anni ha guidato l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura
di Shanghai.
Laureato in Scienze Politiche e in possesso di un
Master in Economia Internazionale presso l’Università
“Bocconi” di Milano, è considerato un esperto
nella gestione delle risorse umane, nella conduzione
di negoziati di alto livello e nel monitoraggio di progetti
di sviluppo. Ha lavorato per molti anni come
funzionario delle Nazioni Unite in vari paesi del
mondo e come dirigente presso l’Ufficio dell’Unicef
in Pakistan. Parla varie lingue tra cui l’urdu e il
cinese.
Sin dal suo arrivo a Praga ha manifestato la
ferma intenzione di valorizzare e mantenere viva
la memoria della Congregazione degli Italiani. Il
4 ottobre, presso l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura - nella
Cappella dell’Assunta e di San Carlo Borromeo – ha
avuto luogo una Messa Solenne di suffragio per i
benefattori degli ultimi quattro secoli dell’allora
Orfanotrofio - Ospedale Italiano. La funzione ha
ripreso una tradizione interrotta da 70 anni.
archive was lost, but the building
was reconstructed and enlarged
with additional buildings. To have
an idea of how important the Hospital
was, it is enough to consider that
in 1779, according to various historical
sources, the number of patients
in the structure had reached the figure
of 1,187.
The Hospital of the Italians was
suppressed in 1789 by the will of
The new Director of the Italian Institute for Culture,
56 year old Paolo Sabbatini, took office in Prague
on October 17 th . During the past five years he had
led the Italian Institute for Culture in Shanghai.
Graduated in Political Science and with a Master
in International Economics gained at "Bocconi"
University in Milan, he is considered an expert
in human resources management and high level
negotiations, including in monitoring development
projects. He has worked for many years as a United
Nations official in various countries around the
world and as manager at the Unicef Office in
Pakistan. He speaks several languages, including
Urdu and Chinese.
Since his arrival in Prague he has expressed his
firm intention to promote and keep alive the
memory of the Congregation of the Italians. In
fact, on October 4 th , at the Italian Institute for
Culture - in the Chapel of the Assumption and
St. Carlo Borromeo - a solemn mass was dedicated
to the memory of the benefactors (of the last four
centuries) of the then Orphanage - Italian Hospital.
The ceremony resumed a tradition that had been
interrupted for over 70 years.
Giuseppe II, but in 1804, the Italians
living in Prague, renewed the Congregation
- under the protection of His
Serene Highness, the Archduke Luigi
Salvatore of Tuscany - and founded
a boys’ orphanage on 7th September
of the same year. The foundation of
the orphanage, in charge of maintaining
and educating young children,
orphans and the needy (without
distinction of nationality), was
progetto repubblica ceca
storia history
soccorre i membri della Congregazio‑
ne in caso di bisogno. Nel 1830 l’Or‑
fanotrofio fu trasferito nuovamente
nell’edificio storico dell’Ospedale
di Malá Strana che fu riacquistato
dalla Congregazione, e nel 1839 la
sua Cappella venne riconsacrata.
L’Orfanotrofio si occupava dell’edu‑
cazione di ragazzi maschi fino all’età
di 15 anni e offriva, ai più meritevoli,
la possibilità di continuare gli studi
anche dopo questa età. Quando nel
1915 l’Italia entrò nel conflitto mon‑
diale, il governo austriaco tolse agli
italiani l’amministrazione dell’Orfa‑
notrofio, ma al termine della guer‑
ra, questi riuscirono a ottenerne
nuovamente la gestione dal nuovo
governo cecoslovacco. L’Orfanotro‑
fio continuò la sua attività tra varie
difficoltà e vicissitudini fino al 1941
nel corso della Seconda Guerra Mon‑
diale, anno in cui fu soppresso, e la
continua a pag. 47
made possible thanks to the support
given by Italian merchants resident
in Prague. The Statutes of 1804 reaffirmed
the religious and humanitarian
scope of the Congregation and the
Orphanage, among which were: the
conservation of the Italian Chapel in
the Old City, the preservation of the
Orphanage and the institution of a
special fund to help the members of
the Congregation in case of need. In
1830, the Orphanage was transferred
back into the historic Hospital of Mala
Strana, which was bought back by
the Congregation, and in 1839 its
Chapel was once more consecrated.
The Orphanage was responsible for
the education of male children up to
the age of 15 and offered, to the most
deserving scholars, the opportunity
to continue their studies even after
this age. When Italy entered the Second
World War in 1915, the Austrian
Government took away the administration
of the Orphanage from the
Italians, but at the end of the war,
they were able to regain its control
from the new Czechoslovak govern-
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