Giorgio Ceragioli

For the artist, see Giorgio Ceragioli (sculptor).
Giorgio Ceragioli
Born June 24, 1930
Torino, Italy
Died July 17, 2008
Torino, Italy
Residence  Italy Italy
Nationality  Italy italian
Fields appropriate technology, international development, Third World, self-building
Institutions Politecnico di Torino, Assefa
Doctoral advisor Prof. Giuseppe Ciribini
Doctoral students Nuccia Comoglio Maritano, Massimo Foti, Gianfranco Cavaglià
Known for Scholarship and publications

Giorgio Ceragioli (June 24, 1930 – July 17, 2008) was an Italian engineer, professor and a leader in the pro-Third World movement in Italy. [1]

Biography

Giorgio Ceragioli was born in Torino the 24 June 1930. His grandfather was a well known Italian artist also named Giorgio and his father Mario worked as engineer for Torino's municipality.
He studied civil engineering at the local university where, after a period of independent professional work as engineer, he became professor of Technology of Architecture.
In his youth he volunteered for the local branch of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Later he became a leader of the Azione Cattolica where he supported his pro-Third-world vision establishing the Centro Cattolico Torinese contro la fame nel mondo and organising the first Quaresima di Fraternità. This meant that all money collected by the Catholic Church during the Lent, instead of being used locally, was devoted to projects in the developing countries. [2]
His activity led him to travel a lot; he visited India several times getting in touch with the Sarvodaya movement established by Vinoba Bhave.
Back in Italy he launched with Giovanni Ermiglia Assefa (Association for Sarva Seva Farms), a still widespread NGO which economically supports Sarvodaya activities in India and also aims to promote Gandhi's principles across Italy. During the years Assefa provided thousands of lower class Indian farmers with the means necessary to start the cultivation of the land voluntarily given by landowners to Bhoodan movement (or Land Gift Movement). This kind of action has been particularly strong in the state of Tamil Nadu; Assefa also supports primary education and women's self-organisation. [3] In December 1968 he also established Movimento Sviluppo e Pace, a humanitarian non-religious NGO implementing projects for sustainable development in poor countries[4]

As a university professor his main fields of interest were self-build and appropriate technology, to which he devoted the main part of his educational and scientific activity. In 1988 he established the Scuola di specializzazione in Tecnologia, architettura e città nei PVS, an international post-graduate school of the Polytechnic University of Turin dealing with habitat problems of developing countries. He was director of the school until 1996, when he had to retire due to Parkinson's disease. In 2003 the school was turned into the Centro di ricerca e di documentazione in "Tecnologia, architettura e città nei Paesi in via di sviluppo". [5]
After his death was established for his memory the Comitato Giorgio Ceragioli, a committee which managed a fellowship endowment devoted to support dissertations or research projects about habitat in developing countries. [6] Also the Università del dialogo (literally University of dialog), an interdisciplinary school held by SERMIG of Torino, is dedicated to Giorgio Ceragioli (together with the Vietnamese catholic cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận). [7][8]

Selected bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Servizio diocesano Terzo Mondo". La nostra storia. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
  2. ↑ Edo Gorzegno (3 August 2008). "Ceragioli, un'anima al futuro". La Voce del Popolo (in Italian). Torino.
  3. ↑ "Assefa ONG Italia" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-12-27.
  4. ↑ La Chiesa torinese salvata dai cristiani "degli altri mondi" , article of Mario Berardi, La Repubblica of September 9th 2015, on-line version: ricerca.repubblica.it (access: December 2015)
  5. ↑ "Centro di ricerca e di documentazione in "Tecnologia, architettura e città nei Paesi in via di sviluppo"". Chi siamo. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  6. ↑ VV.AA. (2011). Il comitato Giorgio Ceragioli - attività, contributi, risultati (in Italian). Turin: Politecnico di Torino - Centro di Ricerca e Documentazione in "Tecnologia, Architettura e Città nei Paesi in via di sviluppo".
  7. ↑ "Università del Dialogo". Inaugurata l'università del dialogo. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  8. ↑ Olivero, Ernesto (2006). Il sogno di Dio. La Chiesa delle beatitudini. Città Nuova Editrice. p. 132. ISBN 8831142992.

External links

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