The Fortune of Being Born in Florence Being Florentine is an infinite value.
Whether you’re a sports fan or not, Fiorentina unites us all; in purple, we become a big family.
Football gives us the opportunity to feel like brothers, but I would like, I would dream, that all Florentines were brothers even beyond the sentiment of football allegiance.
I wish they were united by their shared culture.
Local administrations must set the tone.
I don’t feel Florence’s heart beating as it once did.
I don’t see the drive toward new and significant initiatives.
Florence must return to being what it was:
the homeland of our souls.
Fiorentina must return to being its team:
the national team of Florentines, wearing the purple jersey with the red lily on their chest.
Maybe it’s because I was young, but back then, we were so proud of being Florentine when we went abroad.
In England, I made my career also because I was Florentine:
they didn’t call me the Italian director but the director of Florence.
In all the honors I’ve received, mention is made not of my Italian roots but of being a citizen of Florence.
I wish everyone would realize that being Florentine is richly rewarded only if we are conscious of it and if we defend this great fortune of being born in Florence.
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli Film director and President of the Senate of the Florentine Museum
