La Storia siamo Noi

"History is Us" recounts and never forgets the stories of citizens buried at the Villetta Monumental Cemetery in Parma. Stories of love, friendship, and salvation.
Recognizing that local history is also made up of the many lives of those who lived in the city: anecdotes and events that contribute to building the collective memory of our community and passing it on to new generations.

Fifteen stories have been turned into podcasts, recordings to be listened to on your cell phone. Students from Parma's high schools, thanks to a podcast training course, developed the texts, adapting them to be told aloud and listened to. Some students have also become narrators of these podcasts.

List of stories:
1. Matilde Azzi Barborini (1870 – 1907)
Octagon – Arch 10
The legacy of a mother of 7
2. Celestina Bottego (1895 – 1980)
Octagon – Northeast Ward 4 – Chapel No. 14 “Bottego Family”
“Mother” of her missionaries and the least of the earth
3. Ernesto Valesi (1920 – 1979)
Perimeter Gallery – Painting Avelli 49 – Avello 20 – Row 2
Music can save lives
4. Roberto Dall’Aglio (1947 – 2015)
Perimeter Gallery – Painting Avelli 51 – Avello 4 – Row 4
A doctor-scientist. Love is the lesson he left behind
5. Giorgio Medici (1918 – 1992) and Annalucia Bovardi (1922 – 2010)
Octagon – Northeast Section 4 – Tomb No. 19 “Bovardi Medici Family”
Venezuela: round trip.
6. Gabriele Lalatta (1869 – 1962) and Concetta Lalatta (1879 – 1965)
Upper North Gallery – Avelli Painting “R” – Avelli 15 and 23 – Row 2
Destiny in a Living Room Clock
7. Bianca Bersini Faelli (1921 – 2014)
Octagon – Arch 120
Love for Teaching and Freedom
8. Maria Luisa Guareschi (1910 – 2006)
Padre Lino Cloister – Avelli Painting 5 – Avelli 43 – Row 1
An Independent Woman
9. Attila Varga Bossomenji (1934 – 1995)
Octagon – Northwest Section 3 – Chapel No. 4 “Fam. Gardini widow. Borsari”
From refugee to pediatrician: a second chance in Parma
10. Riccarda Piazza (1932 – 2020)
Ottagono – Northwest Ward 1 – Tomb 4 “Fam. PiazzaRiccardaexMauri”
Teacher of school and life
11. Dina Balestrazzi (1912-1993)
Ottagono – Southwest Ward 4 – Tomb no. 30 “Zilioli – Guidi Family”
From a child furnace worker to a loving and adored grandmother
12. Carlo Miola (1910 – 1979)
San Giuseppe Cloister – Avelli Painting (Ground Floor) 2 – Avello 65 – Row 5
“Carlèn” and his legendary Billiards Room
13. Edwige Dallay (1897 – 1992)
San Pellegrino First Floor – Family Archway 22/B “Rossetti – Raimondi Family”
Midwife, even during the bombings
14. Marchesini Pierino (Piero) (1915 – 1993)
San Pellegrino Ground Floor – Avelli Painting 16 – Avello 47 – Row 2
Wounds of war never heal
15. Riccardo Calzetti (1998 – 2020)
Octagon - Department Southeast 1 – Chapel No. 11 “Baiocchi Bigi Family”
A story that brings peace to the heart

More information and a map of the route can be found on the ADE s.p.a. website.

Instructions: The podcasts can be listened to directly at the Villetta Monumental Cemetery by scanning the QR codes (two-dimensional barcodes) on the plaques along a route through the cemetery, illustrated with a map.
The podcasts are available on Spotify or Spreaker.

Project by: Municipality of Parma and ADE S.p.A., in collaboration with the Parma City Libraries, Parma High Schools, and Echo Podcasting and Podschool. Edited by Paola Greci of the ECHO – Education Culture Human Oxygen Cultural Association.
In 2024, “La Storia siamo Noi” won first prize for best Public History project.