Gino Cecchettin, the father of Giulia, who was stabbed to death at the age of 22 by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta on 11 November 2023, chose not to remain silent and to tell "what he learned" from his daughter in a book: " Dear Giulia" which will be released on 5 March 2024 by Rizzoli.
Written with Marco Franzoso - the author of ''The Indigo Child'' and ''The Innocent'' - and part of a broader project to support victims of gender violence, the book is a long letter, a powerful narrative and an appeal to families, schools and institutions in which Gino Cecchettin, through Giulia's story, questions the errors and deep roots of the patriarchal culture of our society.
"In these days you have become a public symbol" writes Gino Cecchettin who, since the day of his daughter's funeral, has chosen to share his pain by trying to face it and make it constructive so that it can be of help to the young men and women of our country.
"You are my Giulia and you will always be my Giulia. But you are no longer just that. After what has happened, you are also everyone's Giulia, the one who is talking to everyone. And I feel a strong duty to demonstrate to the world that person you were and, above all, to try through this to make other people ask themselves the same questions as me" are Cecchettin's painful words of commitment, awareness and courage.
Giulia's father also explains how these pages were born: "I try to analyze where we went wrong, especially us parents, fathers and mothers, where we were not very present and were unable to educate our children about love, respect, understanding , but perhaps we have educated them to a way of life centered on possession."
"I am trying to do this with all my strength and I believe this is the best way to react to what has happened, making as much noise as possible, to speak to other parents and their children's generation" explains Cecchettin, 54 years old, owner of a small electronics company, which in memory of his daughter Giulia, who was awarded a memorial degree in biomedical engineering on 2 February, withdrawn by her sister Elena, is engaged in building projects to combat gender violence.
As Federica Magro, editorial director of Rizzoli, underlines, "in our country the common reflection around the tragic theme of gender violence is becoming more and more urgent, in order to rethink ourselves completely as a civil society. For this reason, Rizzoli, which has made its DNA the give voice to the authors who have stimulated or enriched the public debate on the great themes of the present, is very grateful - and I am also personally grateful as a citizen - to Gino Cecchettin for having intervened on the topic of gender violence with a lucid and precious reflection, key of a necessary change".
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA