Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, June 29 2021 - This afternoon, in via Sismondi, a garden was named after Beppe Viola, journalist, writer and sports commentator, but also an unforgettable comedian, screenwriter and song writer. Viola passed away in Milan in 1982, aged just 42, and lived not far from the green area which will now bear his name.
 
The Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala, Mrs. Franca - Viola's wife - with her daughters Anna and Marina and the president of Municipality 4 Paolo Guido Bassi took part in the ceremony. Also present at the event was the actor Cochi Ponzoni who read the song "Via Lomellina", the text that Viola himself had written to describe his neighborhood.
 
"I am very happy to name a garden in our city after Beppe Viola, in a neighborhood - his - which remembers him with so much affection and enthusiasm - declared the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala -. The humour, the musical lyrics and the services from San Siro that bear his signature are and will remain an unforgotten artistic and cultural heritage of Milan. I am sure that Viola would have appreciated the choice to give his name to this green area: spaces like this are not just a place for meeting and dialogue between. people or games for children, but they also represent an amazing source of stories and anecdotes from which to draw inspiration and stimuli to tell and explain the world around us, making it better".