Alessandro Barbero
presents
St. Francis

December 15, 2025 – 6:30 p.m.
at the Donizetti Theater

Alessandro Barbero returns Monday, Dec. 15, to the Donizetti Theater in Bergamo (6:30 p.m.; tickets sold out) to present his new book dedicated to St. Francis, which was released last September and immediately entered the bestseller lists. The special event is organized by the Donizetti Theater Foundation in collaboration with Editori Laterza and is supported by Intesa Sanpaolo, BCC Oglio e Serio and Sitip Spa. Max Pavan, head of news services for Bergamo TV, will introduce. At the end of the meeting Alessandro Barbero will be available for signacopies in the “Gavazzeni” Ridotto of the Donizetti Theater.

“We are delighted to welcome the return to our theater of Alessandro Barbero, one of the most revealing figures in Italian culture in recent years, a scholar and popularizer who knows how to communicate great events and historical figures like no other.”-comments Massimo Boffelli, general director of the Donizetti Theater Foundation – “Barbero was the protagonist, with great success, of the first edition of Lezioni di Storia in 2024 and having him back with us for a special event, thanks to the now well-established partnership with Editori Laterza and the sponsors supporting us on the occasion, has a special significance in reaffirming the importance and value of our cultural proposals.”

“Intesa Sanpaolo is pleased to support an initiative capable of enhancing the dissemination of culture and knowledge, values that are central to the growth of the communities in which we operate. The collaboration with the Donizetti Theater Foundation confirms our commitment to fostering cultural projects that enrich the territory and help make it more attractive and inclusive,” says Daniele Pastore, Regional Director Lombardy North Banca dei Territori of Intesa Sanpaolo.

“Supporting initiatives that promote knowledge, in-depth study and cultural dialogue is an integral part of the mission of our bank, which has always been close to the growth of the territory and the enhancement of its best energies. The meeting with Professor Barbero represents an extraordinary opportunity because it offers an original and rigorous look at a central figure of our tradition such as St. Francis. We are therefore particularly proud to support the Donizetti Theater Foundation in such a high-profile cultural project, which confirms the theater’s role as a point of reference for the cultural life of the city and province,” says Andrea Corti, Head of the Bergamo Micromarket of Bcc Oglio e Serio.

“We are pleased to support a cultural event of such great appeal, capable of bringing history, popularization and civic participation into dialogue. The presence of Professor Alessandro Barbero at the Donizetti Theater represents a valuable opportunity for the city and for all enthusiasts. We deeply believe in the value of culture as an engine of growth and sharing, which is why we are proud to contribute to the realization of such high-level initiatives,” comments Silvana Pezzoli, vice president and commercial director of Sitip Spa.

During the “meeting, Alessandro Barbero will explore the many versions of Saint Francis’s life that have come down to us. Who was Francis of” Assisi? Was he the person described in the biographies written by friars who “knew him personally, or the one portrayed in Bonaventure of Bagnoregio’s biography written forty years after his death, or the one described in other texts that were discovered after they had been made to disappear? Barbero will show us the” intricate hall of mirrors that has multiplied, fragmented, and ultimately constructed the story of the saint we all think we know.

Alessandro Barbero taught medieval history at the University of Eastern Piedmont. He won the Strega Prize in 1996 with the historical novel Bella vita e guerre altrui di Mr. Pyle, gentilomo. He has collaborated for many years with Piero Angela’s program Superquark , and his podcasts are among the most watched. For La7 he is the star of the program In viaggio con Barbero. Among his many works for Laterza: Dictionary of the Middle Ages (with C. Frugoni); Middle Ages. Story of voices, tale of images (with C. Frugoni); Charlemagne. A father of Europe ; The Battle. History of Waterloo ; August 9, 378 the day of the barbarians; Barbarians. Immigrants, refugees, deportees in the Roman empire. ; Blessed wars. Crusades and jihad. ; Lepanto. The battle of the three empires ; Women, madonnas, merchants and knights. Six medieval stories ; The pope’s words. From Gregory VII to Francis; Caporetto; Dante; Aristocracy in medieval French society; To arms! To arms! The priors make flesh! ; St. Francis.