Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“Washington is where my daughter Angélique was born and where my son Federico spent four unforgettable years of his early childhood,” First Secretary Franco Impalà, Head of the Cultural Section, told Hollywood on the Potomac at an intimate farewell party at Firenze House, residence of The Ambassador of Italy and Mrs. Armando Varricchio, for he and his wife Ingrid Bouillé. “Ingrid and I will leave here an important part of our lives.”
Amb. Armando Varricchio and Franco Impalà
Ambassador Varricchio has only been Ambassador here for five months, but had this to say about his colleague: “In these months, I had really the chance to come to know a very distinguished and fine colleague. Franco has been engaged in cultural diplomacy, which for me is the most important component of diplomacy. We live in challenging times; we are confronted with many threats; the geo-political scenario is offering every single way of presenting us with new challenges. But following the Italian year of culture – a full year of activities, events, not just here in Washington, but throughout this great country – Franco did so with passion, with dedication and I have to say that in the five months I have spent here, whenever I had a possibility to talk with colleagues not just in Washington but in the country, I always received praise and admiration for [what we did] and I think that Franco played a really great role in this.”
Ingrid Bouillé and Franco Impalà with Amb.Armando Varricchio and Micaela Barbagallo
“For me, the time spent here truly was incredibly enriching,” Franco added. “Having the opportunity to work in the cultural field meant that I was privileged enough to be in touch first hand with some of the most beautiful and meaningful features of our two great countries. Research, art, cinema, theater, history, literature, architecture, music, photography, dance, and more: I could not have hoped for a more inspiring job, especially at a time when the world is in growing need for a deeper mutual understanding. I felt proud to work in this area for Italy, a country which is a world power in the cultural sphere and which has made cultural cooperation a priority in its foreign policy – including the protection of cultural heritage of all mankind.”
“I was equally happy to work in the public communication sector. Washington is one of those remarkable places where world opinion takes shape, day by day. To be in touch with this incredible environment, from traditional media to the newest digital networks, opened up some incredible prospects. I was privileged to meet and work with some amazing people inside and outside our Embassy.”
Guido Licciardi, Gabriella Izzi and Mimmo Miccolis
“Now, after eight years, we return to Italy. I know I will find a country that is increasingly aware of its talents and of its role in the world. Italy is a country which like all of the others is going to face the incredible global challenges of our time, but which also has the willingness, the ideas and the capacity to offer innovative solutions, counting on Italians’ unique sense of humanitas – an ideal we inherited by Latin scholars, but still very present in our mindset, based on the best fulfillment of our lives, and on the quest for beauty, learning, philanthropy, dignity – of what truly matters, at the end of the day!” He’ll be back!
