AN EVENING WITH TIZIANO TERZANI
25th January 2007 - "Mahatma Gandhi Hall
| An evening with Tiziano Terzani with the partecipation of Saskia Terzani and Ettore Mo Another
incredible life brought to the stage by Italian Nights. |
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Tiziano
Terzani (14 September 1938 - 28 July 2004) was an Italian journalist
and writer.
Biography (From Wikipedia)
Terzani was born in Florence in 1938. He attended the University of
Pisa as a law student and, after graduating, he started working for
Olivetti, the most advanced office equipment producer in Italy. In 1965,
he had the chance to go on a business trip to Japan. This was his first
contact with Asia and his first step towards his decision to change
his life radically and explore Asia. He then resigned from Olivetti
and moved to Columbia University in order to study chinese language
and culture. In 1971 moved to Singapore as a reporter, with his wife
and their two small children. The German weekly Der Spiegel appointed
him correspondent from Asia. He then offered his collaboration to the
Italian daily newspapers Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica, thus
becoming one of the most prestigious Italian journalists on an international
level. Terzani knew much about the historical and political background
of Asia, but had also a deep interest in the philosophical aspects of
Asian culture. Though an unbeliever, he always looked in his journeys
for the spiritual aspects of the countries he was visiting. He lived
in Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and New Delhi which
became his second home. His stay in Beijing came to an end when he was
arrested and expelled from the country for "counter-revolutionary activities".
Based on his experiences, he wrote La Porta Proibita (Behind The Forbidden
Door), a highly critical book about post-maoist China. Terzani's experiences
in Asia are described in articles and essays in newspapers, as well
as the several books that he wrote. In the first book, which he wrote
in 1973, Pelle di Leopardo (Leopard Skin), he tells about the last phases
of the Vietnam war. One of his most interesting and well-known books
is Un Indovino mi Disse (A Fortune Teller Told Me), the report of a
journey through different Asian countries. The journey lasted for about
a year. In this period, Terzani never took a plane, following the advice
and warning of a fortune teller he had met. In 1997, Terzani received
the Luigi Barzini Prize for his activities as a reporter. After 9/11
he wrote Lettere Contro la Guerra (Letters Against the War). The book
was born as a response to the anti-islamic invectives published by the
Italian journalist and author Oriana Fallaci on the daily Il Corriere
Della Sera on 29 September 2001. In his last book Un Altro Giro di Giostra
(One More Ride on the Merry-go-round), Terzani deals with his illness,
(a tumor) which eventually led to his death, but not before he had travelled
and searched through different and far away countries and civilizations,
looking for a cure for his cancer and for a new vision of life. A short
excerpt from his book: "...after a while, the goal of my journey was
not the cure for my cancer anymore, bur for the sickness which affects
all of us: mortality" He spent the last months of his life in Orsigna,
a little village in the Apennine mountains near Pistoia that he considered
"his true, last love". Terzani died on 28 July 2004. His last memories
are recorded in a beautiful interview for the Italian television entitled
"Anam" an Indian word that literally means "the one with no name", appellative
gained during an experience in an ashram in India. His book La fine
e' il mio inizio was published posthumously in March 2006 and sold 400,000
copies in 4 months. Its New Age theme has been attacked by Roman Catholic
sources such as the newspaper Avvenire.
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Bibliography
* Pelle di leopardo, (Leopard Skin, 1973)
* Giai Phong! La Liberazione di Saigon (Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation
of Saigon, 1975)
* Holocaust in Cambodia (1981)
* La Porta Proibita (Behind The Forbidden Door: Travels in Unknown China,
1985)
* Buonanotte, Signor Lenin (Goodnight, Mr Lenin: A Journey Through the
End of the Soviet Empire, 1992)
* Un indovino mi disse (A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earth-bound Travels
in the Far East, 1995)
* In Asia - (1998)
* Lettere contro la guerra (Letters Against the War, 2002)
* Un altro giro di giostra (One More Ride on the Merry-go-round, 2004)
* La fine e' il mio inizio (2006)
External links
* Tiziano
Terzani "fun" club (in Italian)
* Letters
against the war in PDF, English
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