Generali participated in the memorial ceremony in Rome
07 June 2018
Generali participated in the memorial ceremony in Rome. This year we commemorate 100th anniversary of important historic events that lead to the formation of independent Czechoslovakia.
Czecho-Slovak legions played a significant role in foreign revolt of the Czechs and Slovaks during the World War I. They substantially contributed to the creation of independent Czechoslovakia. They acted in multiple countries and Milan Rastislav Štefánik found support of his endeavor to create independent Czechoslovak state in Italy: on 21 April 1918 Treaty on Establishment of the Czechoslovak army in Italy was signed and it confirmed that the Czecho-Slovak legion in Italy is subordinated to the Czechoslovak National Council. Thus Italy as the first country recognized it as being a political representative of the Czechoslovak foreign revolt and national movement at home.
One month later, on 24 May 1918 M. R. Štefánik took over with 600 soldiers the military flag from Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando on Venetian Square in Rome and handed it over to commander of the Czechoslovak legion – General Andreo Graziani. Czechoslovak patriots took it with them to fights.
Memorial ceremony in Rome
Centenary anniversary of handover of the military flag to the Czechoslovak legion in Italy was celebrated at the memorial ceremony in Rome on 24 May 2018 and it was organized by the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Rome and Embassy of the Czech Republic in Rome. Delegation of the Slovak republic represented Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Security Anton Hrnko and Chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces lieutenant general Daniel Zmeko.
Generali and its representatives from Italy – Daniele Di Loreto (Group Head of Representative Office), Generali CEE Holding – Miroslav Singer (Director for Institutional Affairs and Chief Economist of Generali CEE Holding) and Slovakia – Roman Juráš (CEO Generali Slovakia) also participated in this ceremony.
Ceremony took place on Venetian square at the commemorative board located on the historic building Assicurazioni Generali. The program comprised moderated discussion with historians as well as baptism of book “Patriots or traitors? M. R. Štefánik e la Legione ceco-slovacca” by Sergio Tazzero, Italian publicist, essay writer and author of several historic books. Release of the book in Slovakia was supported by Generali. Daniele Di Loreto received recognition for spreading the legionary traditions from Czechoslovak Legionary Community.
CEO Generali Slovakia Román Juráš concluded: ”I believe it is important not to forget the past, on the contrary, to commemorate it. We should build on the solid foundations left by our predecessors and take the lesson from the trespasses. Generali decided to support the release of this book because M. R. Štefánik left an important legacy in our history, he belongs to the most significant personalities and we need to remember his message.”