Italy issues new postage stamp to mark milestone.
Italian president Sergio Mattarella will attend an event at La Scala in Milan on Friday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italy’s leading daily newspaper, the Corriere della Sera.
The event, titled Corriere 150 anni. La libertà delle idee (Corriere 150 Years. Freedom of Ideas), kicks off a programme of commemorative events organised by the Milan-based newspaper whose first issue was published on 5 March 1876 by founder Eugenio Torelli Viollier.
Milan mayor Beppe Sala and La Scala superintendent Fortunato Ortombina will be among the dignatories attending the gala event, along with Corriere della Sera editor Luciano Fontana and publisher Urbano Cairo.
“We are honoured to open the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Corriere della Sera in the presence of the President of the Republic,” Fontana said, emphasising that over the past 150 years the newspaper has transformed into a multi-platform media outlet without ever sacrificing its “pursuit of verified facts, objective stories, and independent and non-biased opinions.”
Alexander Soddy will conduct the La Scala orchestra in a performance of the Italian national anthem and excerpts from Bellini’s Norma and Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.
Actresses Cristiana Capotondi and Serena Rossi will read landmark pieces from the newspaper’s leading writers, alternating with testimonials from distinguished readers. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Corriere website starting at 11.30.
The event includes the screening of the documentary film titled 150 Years of Corriere della Sera. The Story of Italy, narrated by Neri Marcorè.
To commemorate its 150th year, Italy’s newspaper of record will launch a series of initiatives reflecting on its role as a historic pillar of Italian public life.
The celebrations also include a dedicated editorial project titled “150 Years of News,” which revisits landmark front pages, editorials and investigative reports that have defined the title’s reputation for authoritative journalism.
On Thursday the Corriere will reproduce its first issue from 1876, offered for free with the newspaper, while on Friday the collector’s edition Il mio Corriere della Sera will debut on newsstands. This 300-page volume features greetings and anecdotes from 150 personalities from the worlds of culture, sport and business.
Starting from next Thursday the newspaper will issue a weekly collection of replica copies of its most significant editions.
Italy’s enterprise ministry has also issued a special commemorative postage stamp to mark the milestone.
Photo Poste Italiane
