The death of Ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci arouses in those who knew him a feeling of deep regret, and also of loneliness. Above all, we, Italians overseas, will miss his magnificent presence that from afar continued to ideally comfort and inspire us.

One of the first times I met him – Fulci was Italian ambassador to Ottawa from 1980 to 1985 – he told me:

“I have always tried to instill in my collaborators a sensitivity towards the needs of the poor people. I do not tolerate those employees who have the attitude of an oriental pasha. That is why I always go to the offices.”

With those words he won me over.

Fulci changed style and systems, in the consulates and embassies, towards Italian emigrants, and trained new examples of diplomats. Just think of the extraordinary Gian Lorenzo Cornado, who came out of his school.

The Ambassador quickly realized that many Canadians had a poor idea of ​​Italy, placing it on the same level as Haiti and India. He took action. He worked concretely to make Italy, and its remarkable industrial development, its culture, better known. He also greatly improved trade.

A diplomat like Fulci, extremely dynamic, a born strategist, and a skilled conqueror of feelings of friendship, admiration and gratitude (he was also highly esteemed by Pierre Trudeau) significantly raised the image and presence of Italy in Canada.

The Ambassador was without a doubt what the newspapers tell us, and his curriculum vitae and the many prestigious honors he received amply attest: a genius of diplomacy, a bold, innovative being, gifted with exceptional charisma. But we who knew him closely are the indisputable witnesses of his extraordinary humanity and his closeness to the simple people, to the emigrants, to the “paesani”, often treated with condescension in Italian institutions abroad. But here too there is a “before Fulci” and an “after Fulci”.

In Ottawa, New York, Brussels and wherever he has been, always reaching the top (after his diplomatic career he will rise to the top of Ferrero, an export giant) he has introduced his modus operandi, his style, his extraordinary strategic capabilities. Above all he has created a breeding ground of "his" men, that is, an entire generation of diplomats who have come out of his school, as confirmed by Ettore F. Sequi, Secretary General of the Farnesina, in the article of the C. della S.:

“Fulci, a legend of diplomacy. He taught us the honor of serving Italy.”

I can say that I too am a soldier, in the ideal service of Italy. The Ambassador immediately understood that I cared about the image of Italy and the Italian emigrants, who needed to be defended against the ramshackle prejudices of that ill-fated era. So - excuse my immodesty - the Ambassador did not create me but recognized the soldier in me and included me in the circle of his faithful.

I have a correspondence with him, which says a lot about him but also about me, since the Ambassador understood men immediately and was always generous in his feelings towards me.

My Istrian origins and my strong national sentiment have played a major role in our friendship. The Ambassador embodied that Italy that we, the ancient people of “Italia irredenta”, have dreamed of over the centuries, only to see this idea of ​​ours, so flattering, denied by the direct knowledge of the Italians of the Boot… But suddenly I found embodied, in this loyal and generous leader, precisely that ideal Italy so dreamed of by our fathers.

One day, in fact, I told him with absolute sincerity:

“Dear Ambassador, you express Italy not as it is, but as our homeland could and should be.”

A judgment that now sounds bitter to me, because I see Italy impoverished by the disappearance of this magnificent leader.

claudio antonelli
Montreal