Giorgio Blais (

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, April 14, 1935) is a

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

of the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

, risen to public notoriety for having crossed, on foot and alone during summer of 2000, Italy from

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

down to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. He started on June 16 from the top of

Rocciamelone Rocciamelone ( pms, Ròcia-mlon, french: Rochemelon or ''Roche Melon'') is a 3,538 m high mountain in Piedmont, Italy, near the border between Italy and France. Geography Rocciamelone is located between Val di Susa and Maurienne, 50&nbs ...

, and after a journey. of 1700 km he arrived on August 5 at the flank of Mount Etna. The goal of this enterprise, which he defined as "my reckless walk through Italy", was to bring a message of brotherhood and Italianness to the 42 stopover towns. For this endeavor, he has been appointed Grand Officer by the

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born i ...

on December 27, 2003.

Biography

During his career, he has served in the

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

s Taurinense,

Cadore Cadore (; lld, Ciadòre; vec, italic=yes, Cadór or, rarely, ''Cadòria''; german: italic=yes, Cadober or ''Kadober''; Sappada German: ''Kadour'';

Orobica The Orobica or Valgerola is a breed of domestic goat from the Val Gerola in the province of Sondrio, in the Bergamo Alps of northern Italy. It is raised in the Val Gerola and the Valchiavenna in the province of Sondrio, in the Alto Lario ...

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

as well as in the Central Offices in Rome. He has a military paratrooper's license and a 2nd degree civilian pilot's license. He worked for about nine years in international missions in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, an area of which he claims expertise. For four years he was Director of Military Studies at the

International Institute of Humanitarian Law The International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) is an independent, “non-profit, humanitarian association having social values as its objectives”, founded in 1970 in Sanremo, Italy. Its headquarters are situated in Villa Ormond, while a ...

(1994–1998), and for 8 years (1999–2007) Vice-President of the same Institute. Between 2011 and 2014 he directed human rights and international humanitarian law courses for Iraqi and Kurdish government officials in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

and Erbil (sponsored program of the

Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation ( it, Ministero degli affari esteri e della cooperazione internazionale or ''MAECI'') is the foreign ministry of the government of the Italian Republic. It is also known as the Farnesin ...

). He was professor of "methodology of documentation" at the Italian Institute of Publicism (1977–1982).

Awards

*Commander

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

the December 27, 1986 *Grand Officer

the December 27, 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blais, Giorgio 1935 births Living people Italian generals Military personnel from Turin