Memoirs of an old Bocconian: stolen portrait of Salvatore Grillo

Outspoken, devoted, passionate, pain in the ass. A myth for generations of students. 84 years old, of which more than 60 spent at the University of via Sarfatti. Now she’s pieced together her memories of him. And he says: “I had to do it: they ordered me from Heaven”

At least 200 letters, emails, text messages and WhatsApp messages. Newspaper clippings. Nursery rhymes, comics, poems, prayers. An autograph by Pablo Neruda. An autograph of Nobel laureate Miguel Angel Asturias. Correspondence with Primo Levi. A letter of protest addressed to Eugenio Scalfari. A letter from the President of the Republic. A letter from the Patriarch of Venice. An old typed menu. The title page of The Government of the Economy and Money. Contributions for a European policy, by Mario Monti, with a dedication from the professor. The signs with which he papered the walls of the University-phrases from the series: “Only imbeciles have certainties. The only certainty is death. Everything is mystery”. And the photocopy of the poster, prepared for him by the students in 1994, with his famous motto: “Life is a gift. And if you haven’t understood it yet, it means you haven’t understood shit”.