Just days after the official visit of the Heads of State of the Republic of San Marino, Denise Bronzetti and Italo Righi, another major event has shone an international spotlight on the Byron and Risorgimento Museums. The presentation of Lord Byron’s walking stick by his descendant Robin Byron and Lady Byron was the highlight of the ceremony held this morning at the Museums, before Lord and Lady Byron’s visit to the spaces dedicated to the great British Romantic poet.
The ceremony was attended by Antonio Patuelli, President of the Cassa di Ravenna and creator of the Museums; Mirella Falconi Mazzotti, President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna; Fabio Sbaraglia, Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Ravenna; Ernesto Giuseppe Alfieri, President of the Italian Byron Society, with Vice Presidents Diego Saglia and Gregory Dowling; Vice President Franco Gabici; and Secretary General Giancarlo Bagnariol of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna. President Mirella Falconi Mazzotti thanked “Lord and Lady Byron for the precious gift of the walking stick, which will become one of the most sought-after and important relics of our Museum,” explaining that “their visit brings to a conclusion a long process begun with my predecessors Lanfranco Gualtieri and Ernesto Giuseppe Alfieri, which has led to the creation of Museums now visited regularly by Heads of State, international institutions, and visitors from all over the world, and which feature almost daily in reports and articles in the world’s major media outlets.”
The special day for Ravenna and the Museums was also graced by good fortune: after morning rain, the event itself was accompanied by bright sunshine, delighting the many attendees throughout. Diego Saglia and Gregory Dowling read passages from Lord Byron’s greatest masterpiece, Don Juan, in both English and Italian.
At the conclusion of the event, while signing the guestbook together with his wife, Lord Byron said: “I congratulate the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna for an extraordinary project that is not just a tribute to my distant ancestor, but to the great world of literature. In England and throughout the English-speaking world, there is much talk of the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, and many people who have visited them have given me extraordinarily flattering accounts. Much credit for this goes to President Mirella Falconi Mazzotti and to the Presidents who preceded her.”
Also present at the day’s events, held in the noble courtyard of the Palace that had hosted the Royal Family of the United Kingdom last April, were the Museums’ Director Alberta Fabbri and numerous members of the Board of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna.
Ravenna, 28 September 2025
