Cini Foundation: Difference between revisions

[[File:Venice San Giorgio Maggiore Islandisland, from St. Mark'sVenice, CampanileItaly.jpg|right |thumb |250 px |The island of [[San Giorgio Maggiore]] is home to the Cini Foundation]]

The Foundation is located in the former [[San Giorgio Monastery]] on the island of [[San Giorgio Maggiore]], [[Venice]]. The foundation was established by [[Vittorio Cini]] in memory of his son, Giorgio Cini, who died in an airplane accident near [[Cannes]] in 1949.

Vittorio Cini had a long relationship with the Italian Fascist party, joining in 1926, and had occupied influential positions within government and industry throughout the decades of [[Benito Mussolini]]'s rule. In early 1943 he was named to the Ministry of Communication, but soon resigned, publicly castigating the obvious dire state of the national situation. He joined the plotting against Mussolini,<ref>[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/vittorio-cini_(Dizionario_Biografico)/ Enciclopedia Treccani], Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 25 (1981), entry by Maurizio Reberschak.</ref> and with the Nazi occupation of Northern Italy, he was arrested by the [[SS]] and sent to the [[Dachau concentration camp]]. Transferred to a hospital, his son Giorgio was able to get him released by bribing officials with diamonds and jewelleryjewelry.<ref>{{cite book | author=Tatiana Metternich | author-link=Tatiana von Metternich-Winneburg | title=Purgatory of Fools | publisher=Quadrangle (1976) | page=196 | isbn=0-8129-0691-8 | year=1976}}</ref> Giorgio would also lobby successfully against the elder Cini's legal exclusion from political activities, arguing that his final break with Mussolini mitigated his long years of collaboration.<ref>Reberschak entry in Treccani.</ref>

Part of the original purpose of the Foundation was to rebuild the convent that had been destroyed by [[Napoleon]] and later used by the Austrian Army, then the Italian Army, and rehabilitate the island within the context of the cultural history of [[Venice]].<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.cini.it/en/foundation |title=Mission of the Cini Foundation] |access-date=2009-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211211356/http://www.cini.it/en/foundation |archive-date=2012-02-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It now houses a historical library of about 15 ,000 volumes, an archive of manuscripts, and a collection concerning documents about history, music, theater and art. It is also a venue for exhibitions, concerts and meetings. As such it was a meeting place for the [[G7]] meetings in 1980 and 1987.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Once a World Power, Now Host to World Powers |author=R. W. Apple Jr.| journal=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 7, 1987 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/07/world/once-a-world-power-now-host-to-world-powers.html?pagewanted=all}}</ref>

The Foresteria are the exclusive guest quarters that were built for Cini's friends and have been reserved for important guests who attend meetings at the Cini foundationFoundation. Filled with valuable art and presenting across the water a view of [[Piazza San Marco|St. Mark's Square]] and the [[Doge's Palace, Venice|Doge's Palace]], the place has been visited by heads of state including [[Jimmy Carter]], [[Margaret Thatcher]], [[Ronald Reagan]], [[François Mitterrand]], [[Romano Prodi]], [[Carlo Azeglio Ciampi]], and King [[Juan Carlos I of Spain]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cini.it/uploads/box/20fa5253cd38c3dcb719e8319a5190ce.pdf |title=Information about La Foresteria |access-date=2009-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224224731/http://www.cini.it/uploads/box/20fa5253cd38c3dcb719e8319a5190ce.pdf |archive-date=2009-02-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>