Who was Franco Anelli, the rector of the Catholic University who took his own life. Life and career
He was one of the most prominent intellectuals in Milan, Franco Anelli, the Magnificent Rector of the Catholic University of Milan who took his own life on the evening of Thursday 23 May at the age of 60. A true luminary, as well as a “rizza” jurist, remembered today by the University in the aftermath of the extreme gesture of the professor who, from what we learn, he threw himself from the sixth floor of the building where he lived, in Milan in the Foro Buonaparte area. “The community of the Catholic University and of the Agostino Gemelli IRCCS University Polyclinic Foundation, to which Anelli dedicated his work and his entire life, gathers together in mourning and prayer, expressing the deepest condolences to his mother and his Dear”.
Born in 1963, originally from Piacenza, Anelli graduated from the “Lorenzo Respighi” scientific high school in 1982 and then graduated in law from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, subsequently obtaining a PhD in commercial law. In 1991 he passed the state exam for access to the bar, becoming a cassation lawyer in 1998. He was a full professor of civil law at the Piacenza branch of the Cattolica until 2012. On 1 January 2013 he was appointed rector of the Milanese university; in 2020 he was re-elected for his third and final mandate, and in recent days the procedure for the appointment of his successor for the four-year period 2024-2028 had begun. The Academic Senate, convened for June 17, will have to compose a shortlist of five names among those indicated by the 12 faculties and then submit them to the board of directors. At the meeting on 24 July the board of directors will proceed with the appointment of the new rector.
Author of several monographs and dozens of articles in the field of civil law, he was also editor of the Manual of private law by Andrea Torrente and Piero Schlesinger, published by Giuffrè.
On May 13, 2022, Pope Francis appointed him consultant to the Congregation for Catholic Education. And just today the Archbishop of Milan Mario Delpini, who is also president of the Toniolo Institute, founding body of the Catholic University, said regarding his death: “When faced with the enigma, words cannot be pronounced unless causing confusion and creating wounds. I can’t help but invite people to pray.” “What I can say is this – he added -: I have a memory of a professor of great competence and culture, who gave a lot to the University in some particularly challenging situations involving the polyclinic Gemini, so there is great recognition for the work done.”
His last singular remains message addressed last April 13th at the inauguration meeting of the College Festival of the Catholic University: “This is a difficult phase, but precisely because many in complex times like this have been able to foster hope, it is also up to you young people to realize that it is not a choice to “ask” for your future because you have it in your hands. The University as an educational institution has the task of providing you with the tools to support you.” However, further investigations will be carried out by the Carabinieri, in agreement with the prosecutor Marcello Viola, to exclude anomalies relating to the death.
#Franco #Anelli #rector #Catholic #University #committed #suicide