Dame ANITA GARIBALDI bestowed with the FREEDOM OF THE CITY OF LONDON 19th June 2014

The City of London Corporation –

Dame Anita Garibaldi bestowed with the Freedom of the City of London

19^th June 2014. Dame Anita Garibaldi was bestowed by Lord Major Paul Double, with the Freedom of the City of London last 19^th June in the Chamberlain’s Court, Guildhall. The Ceremony was attended by Vice Lord Major  John Bennet, Minister Vincenzo Celeste  deputy Ambassador of Italy in London, George Gillon   Director  of the Ceremony, Sir Dominic Pini, Mrs Babini of the Istituto Culturale italiano, Mrs Francesca Flessati  delegate of the OBE, General Poddighe, his wife Mrs Giovanna Violante, and Anita’s sons and daughter: Morton, Andrea, Francesco, Stefano, Anita  Jr.Dame Anita – says professor Livio Spinelli is the third Italian VIP bestowed with the Freedom of the City, after the former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and General Armando Diaz. She stressed in her speech that her Great-Grandfather admired England and its Institutions, that should be a model to follow by Italy, that liberalism thinking, which is now human heritage was born in England thanks to John Locke the philosopher of freedom as well  Hume, Smith and Von  Hajeck. She expressed the wish to establish  Europe from the Atlantic Ocean to the Urals, with the precious and essential participation of the United Kingdom, to play a most essential role in the globalized world. Giuseppe Garibaldi one of the Reform’s most intriguing Honorary Members whose visit to the Club was instigated by Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi, once Chief Librarian of the British Museum Library and prominent in founding the Club Libray. At his arrival in London on 21 April 1864 Garibaldi received a hysterical welcome as he travelled through the streets of London to Pall Mall, where over two hundred Reform members gathered to meet him - an unforgettable occasion, recorded in the Reform Club’s archives and in the oil canvas of Sir John Gilbert. 150 years later the Garibaldi Committee, led by the Italian Embassy, and the REFORM CLUB have promoted a number of events to commemorate the great man’s momentous visit to London. Last 19^th May the Library and Museum of FREMASONRY of London inaugurated an Exhibition about Giuseppe Garibaldi which will be open till 29^th August. Dame Anita has been invited by the mayor of Bedford, Dave Hodgson next 26^th  June to attend the opening ceremony of the restoration work of Britannia Bridge, the day will also be marked by the planting of two sequoia trees in tribute to Italian patriot, Giuseppe Garibaldi who visited the works in 1864.