Abstract
It was 12 September 1996, a Thursday. In the ancient town of Cortona, a conference of the National Institute for Advanced Mathematics was drawing to a close. Among the participants was a blue-eyed young man with brown hair, called Paolo Tilli. At the end of his civil service duties could be opted for as an alternative to mandatory military draft [Translator’s note], he had gone to Cortona on leave. He was carrying out research under the guidance of Ennio De Giorgi, and that same morning he had to return home, making a stop in Pisa. He arrived at Timpano College close to midday and parked his car. He met the doorman, who informed him that De Giorgi had been taken that very morning to the Santa Chiara hospital. “I left my bags and went to look for him—remembers Tilli.—I found him in a bed, inside a ward. He was alone, disrobed, and wearing a vest. A sheet covered his legs. It was a nice day, but the air was chilly. I was surprised that the window was open, as there was a draught. I was there and wanted to enter the room, but I was embarrassed at the same time, and stopped by the door for a couple of minutes. De Giorgi opened his eyes and recognized me.” “Can I do something?” I asked. “Yes, maybe you can let me have some clean clothes.” So, I went to the laundry room of the college, I took his washed clothes and I brought them to him. When I saw him again he seemed to be faring better.”
And you be sober in all things, put up with suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry. For I am being poured out like a drink offering and the time of my departure stands near. I have fought the good fight, I have completed the race, I have kept the faith; now there lies in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all those who have longed for his appearing.
St. Paul, second letter to Timothy. The passage, chosen by E. De Giorgi (R. De Giorgi, 2008), appeared in his obituaries.
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Notes
- 1.
Service duties could be opted for as an alternative to mandatory military draft (translator’s note).
- 2.
P. Tilli, Turin, 8 January 2007.
- 3.
F. Bassani in [7].
- 4.
A. De Giorgi, Lecce, 23 December 2007.
- 5.
“Kuwait: Robert Hussein finds sanctuary in the USA.” Press release by Christian Solidarity (20 August 1996).
- 6.
“Dear friends, as promised in our letter of 23 August, we have sought the most recent news on the Hussein case. The most reliable sources, suggested to us by Vittoria Scanu, the person responsible for the Italian section of Christian Solidarity International, are the Rev. Stuart Windsor and Dr. Simon Qadri, who provided us with a press release on Robert Hussein’s situation, who has found asylum in the United States, and of which we send as a copy to you. We would appreciate if anyone could forward this release to the Italian press, to make this information widely available. The issues of freedom, justice, and the value of human dignity should be widely discussed among all who believe in these values. We ask you to let us know your ideas on how we should show solidarity with Robert Hussein, and with all those who are persecuted for having exercised their rights of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion affirmed by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” This was to be De Giorgi’s last communication on human rights.
- 7.
G. Letta, Pisa, 6 February 2007.
- 8.
F. Bassani, Pisa, 8 February 2007.
- 9.
The day on which E. De Giorgi was admitted to the General Medicine ward, medical report, Lecce, 13 August 2008.
- 10.
Classified as an upper digestive tract hemorrhage, medical report, Lecce, 13 August 2008. The hemorrhage was supposedly caused by the use of anticoagulants and by stomach ulcers.
- 11.
A. De Giorgi, Lecce, 13 August 2008.
- 12.
See Chap. 19. However, this proposal was rejected. In the same letter, De Giorgi expressed his opposition of the extension of the Academy to humanistic disciplines in the fields of demography, anthropology, and economics. Humanistic disciplines, De Giorgi sustained, are characterized by a wide and diverse range of opinions, in rapid evolution: to select one would have meant to prioritize a few avenues of thought, that would have risked being associated with the beliefs of the Academy, and thus creating problems of conscience in some members.
- 13.
Medical report, Lecce, 13 August 2008.
- 14.
F. Flandoli, Pisa, 7 February 2007.
- 15.
M. Forti, Le teorie fondazionali di Ennio De Giorgi, Pisa, 30 November 2006 and Lecce, 6 December 2006.
- 16.
“Next to John’s Apocalypse and The Book of Proverbs, one of the books he loved most was Thoughts by Pascal,” Ennio De Giorgi, Boll. Umi sez. B (8) 2 (1999).
- 17.
M. Forti, Pisa, 7 February 2007.
- 18.
A. Cogliati, email, 13 November 2007.
- 19.
A. Cogliati continues, email, 13 November 2007: “I had to leave for Milan the following day, and was shocked when they called me to say that he had passed: nothing indicated that the situation was so serious. When I returned to Pisa, Flandoli told me that De Giorgi had been very run down in the end, both physically and spiritually, but that my exam had invigorated him. Mathematics was his life, and maybe, the opportunity to discuss it with students and colleagues had brought some relief and distraction from his illness and the hospital routine. I remember quite well what Flandoli told me: ‘The day of your exam was the last I saw him as happy as I had seen him for quite some time.’ Even today, thinking that I might have, even indirectly, brought some comfort to his extraordinary life, leaves me emotional.”
- 20.
A. De Giorgi, Lecce, 13 August 2008.
- 21.
M. Miranda in [8].
- 22.
He would have presented a paper entitled Dalla critica del riduzionismo insiemistico alla proposta di una base assiomatica comune delle teorie scientifiche (From a critique of set reductionism to the proposal of a common axiomatic base of scientific theories), and with the subtitle Da una vera comprensione critica tra studiosi di varie discipline alla riscoperta del valore sapienziale delle Scienze (From a true critical understanding among scholars of various disciplines to the rediscovery of the scriptural Wisdom value of Science). M. L. Rosato in [3], with reference to a letter sent by De Giorgi to the board of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences dated 11 March 1996. See also De Giorgi’s Dal superamento del riduzionismo insiemistico alla ricerca di una più ampia e profonda comprensione tra matematici e studiosi di altre discipline scientifiche e umanistiche (From set reductionism to the wider and deeper comprehension among mathematicians and scholars of other scientific and humanistic disciplines), in [2].
- 23.
A. De Giorgi, Lecce, 23 December 2007.
- 24.
Words spoken by De Giorgi during Last Rites, at which one of Giovanni Prodi’s sons officiated. G. Prodi, Pisa, October 2006. The episode is confirmed by R. De Giorgi Fiocco, A. De Giorgi, and Don C. Masini.
- 25.
F. Bassani in [7].
- 26.
G. Prodi, Pisa, October 2006.
- 27.
M. De Giorgi remembered [1]: “He needed suitcases. It seems exaggerated, but the only thing we found in abundance in his rooms were suitcases, as he traveled from one place to the next, and without thinking much about bags, we found a lot of them.” M. Galbiati, 14 February 2009, adds that he once met De Giorgi in Pisa, and he was carrying a huge suitcase and was waiting for a taxi to take him to the station for a short trip. De Giorgi said that he had sometimes tried to choose what to pack, but he would always forget something, so he preferred to pack everything he might need in a larger suitcase.
- 28.
The reference is to a speech by Pope John Paul II (22 October 1996) on the thematics of evolution, on the occasion of the plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. M. Rosato in [3].
- 29.
“I remember the days of the week, not the dates.” A. De Giorgi, Lecce, 23 December 2007.
References
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Per Ennio De Giorgi. Lecce University, Department of Mathematics, Liguori (2000)
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Parlangeli, A. (2019). The Last Exam. In: A Pure Soul. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05303-1_24
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