Benedetta was born on 8 August 1936 in Dovadola to Guido Bianchi Porro and Elsa Giammarchi. She was the second of six children, before her there was Leonida and then Gabriele, Manuela, Corrado and Carmen were born. When she was a few months old, she was affected by poliomyelitis that caused her right leg to shorten. In the introduction to the book “Siate nella gioia” (Be in Joy), Father David Maria Turoldo traced a “spiritual profile” and wrote of her adolescence: “As a child, Benedetta was like all other girls, although with an accentuated sensitivity that was almost maternal. Perhaps the fact of having been, since the first months, struck by evil, could already accelerate in her, unconsciously, that process of maturation that made her very soon ready for the singular part that she will have to live, naturally, at the time of her passion. She is a nice and pretty girl, lively and delicate, particularly attentive to her mother’s appeals. With a desire to play and enjoy the simplest and most beautiful things. Able to be happy for nothing in particular and prone to the deepest feelings. Always possessed of a great will to understand, she was diligent and hardworking. A faithful and trusting maiden, with a premature sense of responsibility. ” Since childhood, she was forced to travel many times both because of the work of her engineer father, who was in charge of the construction of the thermal baths of Sirmione del Garda, and because of war, which led the family to take refuge initially in Forlì, in the house of her grandparents, and then in Casticciano (Bertinoro). In her diaries, kept at the encouragement of her mother, she showed her anxieties and worries about the passage of the front and the devastating bombings: “Many airplanes have passed: my parents are in Forlì and the British have bombed the city and I am worried about them”. “Heaven wants to cry today; I’ve been playing next to the shelter.” “They machine-gunned Forlì and Mom was over there.” “The Germans are gone.” “I’m happy because we didn’t hear the bombing today.” “The Germans are back with horses. Tonight or tomorrow they come to live here. ” “While I was sleeping, a German came looking for locals.” “Every day aircrafts are spinning around in my head.” “This morning Dad was in the camp with other men because the Germans wanted to take them away.” “Maybe the Germans are leaving.” “The British have entered and we are happy”. “The British occupied the towns of Faenza and Ravenna. It makes a lot of sense (it’s November 1944 ed). ” “I ate an American chewing gum. The sky is cloudy. ” Benedetta had just turned eight and was in fourth grade. On 4 December 1944 Benedetta left Casticciano and returned to Dovadola, by her grandfather, to continue attending school, while the family moved to Forlì, even though the house was occupied by the British. In January 1945 Benedetta joined her parents and here she fell ill with paratyphoid. She remained with the family for the duration of the illness, which will prove to be long and severe. At the end of March she was able to attend the school that the Dorothean Sisters of Forlì had just reopened. A nun of the order, Sister Alberta, followed her until the entrance exam for the first grade that Benedetta passed on June 24, 1946. The family’s frequent trips will require Benedetta to attend first grade in Brescia from the Orsoline sisters, then second and third grade; and fourth and fifth gymnasium in Forlì, at the “Flavio Biondo” public school; first and second high school at the “Girolamo Bagatta” in Desenzano del Garda. In each of these places she make friendships that will last over time. While she was attending second year of high school, precisely in February 1953, she began to lose her hearing. Thus she wrote in her diary: “Today (2/13) I had a Latin oral exam: sometimes I did not understand what the professor asked me”; then a few days later, on 2/19: “I hardly understood the art lesson… What a bad gaffe. But who cares!? One day I may not understand anything of what others say, but I will always hear the voice of my soul: and this is the way I must go. ”
The eminent scholar and Latinist Don Pompeo Nadiani wrote several works inspired by the interpretation of the Divine Comedy, and in particular the parts of the Divine Comedy related to the areas of Romagna and the Montone Valley.
Apennines
Don Pompeo Nadiani, a distinguished scholar and Latinist, has written several works inspired by the interpretation of the Divine Comedy and in particular by the parts of the Divine Comedy that refer to Romagna and the Montone Valley. Author of many publications on the subject, he has received many awards for his work as a researcher.
For 30 years he was pastor of the parish of San Ruffillo in Dovadola, where, in addition to his pastoral work, he deepened the study of Dante Alighieri and popularized the interpretation of the verses of the supreme poet in several volumes, including Dante on the Montone.
Naturalist, born in Forli in 1889, died in Dovadola, where he was buried in 1983. Author of important works on the flora of Romagna.
Pietro Zangheri’s works represent a milestone in the knowledge of Romagna’s flora. In them the author tells the description, the use and the properties of the most important herbs and essences that populate these valleys. In other works, the author also describes the geological aspects of the valleys of Romagna-Tuscany, showing a deep knowledge of the territory and the subsoil. This is why he is still remembered as one of the most acute scholars of this part of the Apennines.
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Professionally, he was first director and later president of the retirement home of the city of Forli. His work in the field of natural sciences was therefore of an amateur nature, although this did not prevent him from achieving coveted goals: an honorary degree from Florence University and later the “Libera docenza” in geobotany, in addition to several other awards.
From a young age he devoted himself to the study of the flora and fauna of the Forli area, but his interests soon expanded to include zoology, geology and paleontology. The result of so much work is represented by the Museum of Natural History of Romagna, unfortunately no longer in Forlì, but housed in the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali in Verona.
A profound scholar, Zangheri is the author of about 200 publications, both popular and academic.
A deep connoisseur and lover of nature, Zangheri always worked to defend the most precious and fragile natural environments of our region: the coastal pinewoods, the Casentino woods, the limestone vein, and the woods of our hills such as Scardavilla and Ladino, making them known to the public and fighting vigorously for their preservation. He is considered a model and guide for today’s environmentalists.
His most famous books are Le piante medicinali della Romagna, a practical guide to their recognition and use in the family.
Where he is buried and how to get there:
The cemetery is located on the outskirts of the town along the SS67 road.
Antonio (Predappio 20.01.1780 – Dovadola 08.06.1839) is one of the great figures of the Italian Orientalist culture. Born into an aristocratic family from Tuscany and Romagna with a solid cultural background, he had a rich linguistic knowledge that included not only English, German and Spanish, but also Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish and Aramaic. After an adventurous journey that in his youth took him from Anatolia, Persia and Arabia to Egypt and Ethiopia, Raineri Biscia devoted himself passionately to the study and research of the cultures of the East until his death, establishing relationships not only with the cultural elite of the time, but also with high-ranking members of the Italian and foreign political elite, earning respect and esteem wherever he went.
The Guidis, along with the Malatesta, are the two great families of Romagna’s historical political scene.
The influence of the Guidi family in these areas was present from the middle of the 16th century until the middle of the 17th century. It reached its peak during the feudal period, when it was present and brave in many battles.
Marianna ‘Maria’ Maltoni (Dovadola 02 02 1890 – Fiesole 18 11 1964) was an Italian teacher, primary school teacher in San Gersolè (Impruneta).
Her teaching method was aimed at creating a school of objectivity, with a process of reworking the living environment based on the real experiences of the children. These experiences were then expressed in diaries and drawings, accompanied by precise annotations in order to form logic and the understanding of nature based on the observation of the events that need to be made, and not on what was said from above, according to a traditional school model that was oriented to the teaching of knowledge instilled by the educator.
During the Christmas period, in the Forlì area, the traditional E ZOC AD NADEL is celebrated – from 24.12. to 06.01. It is a convivial moment when the citizens gather in Piazza Berlinguer to share Christmas greetings around a log that is lit at around 8 a.m. and left burning until midnight.
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