Bruno Kessler, on stage

There are people who mark an era and leave a legacy that becomes a collective heritage. Various things are named after them that make their names echo even among those who did not have the opportunity for direct acquaintance due to age or geographical reasons. Such is the case with Bruno Kessler, who is remembered for his personality and insight, foresight and determination, as well as for his commitment to the cultural, social and economic development of Trentino. Those in the second half of their lives remember his face, voice, gestures. They have seen his speeches and interviews. They have memories of the crowd that attended his funeral, in the city’s district that hosts the university buildings. But also Fondazione Bruno Kessler, the Kessler Lecture Hall in the Sociology Building of the University of Trento, the “Bruno Kessler” professor honorary title reserved for distinguished scholars who have or intend to establish collaborative relations with the University of Trento, and more speak about him.

February 17 will mark 100 years since Bruno Kessler’s birth. The University of Trento and Fondazione Bruno Kessler have decided to announce just around this date the project that will be dedicated to their creator in the centennial year of his birth. On December 10, in fact, a celebratory occasion will be held in Trento with the involvement of actor Andrea Castelli that will be open to all citizens.

Bruno Kessler, a few notes

A lawyer, politician and above all a man of great insights and strong determination, Bruno Kessler was one of the main protagonists of the modernization process in Trentino in the second half of the 20th century.

He was born in 1924 in Cogolo di Pejo, received his classical high school diploma in Rovereto and his law degree from the University of Padua. He was president of the Autonomous Province of Trento from 1960 to 1973, president of the Trento Province council from 1974 to 1976, member of the parliament from 1976 to 1983 and later senator. Under the first Cossiga administration (1979 -1980), he was also undersecretary at the Ministry of the Interior.

Father of the first Provincial Urban Plan approved in 1967, as president of the Province he launched the second Statute of Autonomy in 1972, and in 1977 he became a member of the so-called Twelve-member Commission for the drafting of the implementing rules of the Statute of Autonomy.

In 1962, the Istituto Trentino di Cultura (ITC) was established as the foundation stone of the project promoted by Bruno Kessler, at that time president of the Trento Province Council, to endow the Trentino community with its own university.

Immediately after the passage of the law establishing the ITC, the Higher Institute of Social Sciences was founded on September 12, 1962, which was transformed in 1972 into the Free University of Trento made up of the faculties of Sociology (the first nationwide), Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, and Economics and Business. Over time, other faculties were added up to 1982 when the University of Trento became a Public University. Up to that date, therefore, the main commitment of the Itc concerned the management of the nascent faculties, the support of the right to study, and the flanking of academic research with study centers capable of attracting the best of Italian and transalpine scientific expertise related to its research domains. This prompted the creation of the Italian-German Historical Institute (Isig) in 1973, the Institute for Religious Studies (ISR) in 1975 and the Institute for Scientific and Technological Research (Irst) in 1976.

(UniTN/FBK press release)