Giorgio Ceragioli (June 24, 1930 – July 17, 2008) was an Italian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

and a leader in the pro-''

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

'' movement in Italy.

Biography

Giorgio Ceragioli was born in

Torino Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. T ...

the 24 June 1930. His grandfather was a well known Italian artist also named Giorgio and his father Mario worked as

for

's municipality. He studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

at the

local university Local colleges and universities (LCUs) are higher educational institutions that are being run by local government units in the Philippines. A local government unit (LGU) maybe a barangay, a municipality, city, or a province that puts up a post-sec ...

where, after a period of independent professional work as engineer, he became

of '' Technology of Architecture''. In his youth he volunteered for the local branch of the

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

. Later he became a leader of the

Azione Cattolica The Azione Cattolica Italiana, or Azione Cattolica (Catholic Action) for short, is a widespread Roman Catholic lay association in Italy. History In Italy in 1905, Azione Cattolica was established as a non-political lay organization under the dir ...

where he supported his pro-

Third-world The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the "First W ...

vision establishing the ''Centro Cattolico Torinese contro la fame nel mondo'' and organising the first ''Quaresima di Fraternità''. This meant that all money collected by the Catholic Church during the

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, instead of being used locally, was devoted to projects in the

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. His activity led him to travel a lot; he visited India several times getting in touch with the

Sarvodaya Sarvōdaya ( hi, सर्वोदय '' sarv-'' "all", '' uday'' "rising") is a Sanskrit term which generally means "universal uplift" or "progress of all". The term was used by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation of John Ruskin ...

movement established by

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is cons ...

. Back in Italy he launched with Giovanni Ermiglia ''Assefa'' (Association for Sarva Seva Farms), a still widespread

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

which economically supports Sarvodaya activities in India and also aims to promote Gandhi's principles across Italy. During the years Assefa provided thousands of lower class Indian farmers with the means necessary to start the cultivation of the land voluntarily given by landowners to

Bhoodan movement The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

(or ''Land Gift Movement''). This kind of action has been particularly strong in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

; Assefa also supports

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

and women's self-organisation. In December 1968 he also established '' Movimento Sviluppo e Pace'', a humanitarian non-religious

implementing projects for

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

in poor countries As a university professor his main fields of interest were

self-build Self-build is the creation of an individual home for oneself through a variety of methods. The self-builder's input into this process varies from doing the actual construction to contracting the work to an architect or building package company. ...

and

appropriate technology Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by locals, decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally ...

, to which he devoted the main part of his educational and scientific activity. In 1988 he established the ''Scuola di specializzazione in Tecnologia, architettura e città nei PVS'', an international post-graduate school of the

Polytechnic University of Turin The Polytechnic University of Turin ( it, Politecnico di Torino) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is co ...

dealing with habitat problems of

. He was director of the school until 1996, when he had to retire due to

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. In 2003 the school was turned into the ''Centro di ricerca e di documentazione in Tecnologia, architettura e città nei Paesi in via di sviluppo''. After his death was established for his memory the ''Comitato Giorgio Ceragioli'', a committee which managed a

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance *Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...

devoted to support dissertations or research projects about habitat in

. Also the ''Università del dialogo'' (literally ''University of dialog''), an interdisciplinary school held by SERMIG of Torino, is dedicated to Giorgio Ceragioli (together with the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese

catholic cardinal A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

Nguyễn Văn Thuận Phanxicô Xaviê Nguyễn Văn Thuận or Francis-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận (; 17 April 1928 – 16 September 2002), was a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He was a nephew of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm, an ...

Selected bibliography

* ''L'edilizia popolare nel Sud-est asiatico : analisi di problemi e orientamenti'', Torino grafica, 1965,

. * ''Habitations pour tous dans les pays en voie de développement'' (with N. Comoglio Maritano), Cicsene, 1973,

. * ''Low cost housing in developing countries : technological proposals and regulations'', with N. Comoglio Maritano and G. Cattai, Cicsene, 1978,

. * ''Industrializzazione edilizia : elementi per un glossario problematico'' (with G.Canavesio), Levrotto e Bella, 1980,

. * ''Problemi normativi e autocostruzione'' (with N. Comoglio Maritano and G. Capetti), C.L.U.T., 1985,

. * ''Technological hybridization'', with N. Comoglio Maritano, Cepam, 1987,

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...

. * ''Glossario progettuale di tecnologie edilizie per PVS'' (with G. Cattai and N. Comoglio Maritano), CICSENE-LVIA, 1988,

. * ''La valutazione interdisciplinare dell'edilizia nei PVS: problemi temutivi e difficolta'' (with other authors), C.L.U.T., 1988,

. * ''Pensieri leggendo « Vinoba on Gandhi » sulla difesa popolare nonviolenta'', in ''Verso una difesa popolare nonviolenta per l'Italia?'', CEDAM, 1988,

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. * ''Tecnologia dell'architettura'' (with N.Comoglio Maritano), C.L.U.T., 1989,

. * ''Per una identificazione e definizione del progetto Habitat'' (with G. Cattai and N. Comoglio Maritano), CICSENE–ICEPS, 1990,

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. * ''Adaptable Technologies, typologies and evaluations for low-cost housing in the Megalopolis of developing countries'' (with N. Comoglio Maritano), MG, 1995,

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

. * ''Sviluppo e società a confini aperti. Scritti di Giorgio Ceragioli'', L'Harmattan Italia, 1998 (editor: Massimo Foti). * ''Dare un'anima al futuro. Note per un umanesimo tecnologico'', Edizioni MILLE, 2002, Torino. * ''I Giobbetti - una saga familiare'', Priuli e Verlucca, 2011,

Scarmagno Scarmagno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. Since the 1960s, it was home to a large plant of the Olivetti company, which, for some periods, produced ...

(editor: Massimo Foti). * ''Creativi e responsabili'', Edizioni MILLE, 2016, Torino (editor: Massimo Foti).

References

External links

Assefa Italia ONG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceragioli, Giorgio Engineers from Turin 1930 births 2008 deaths Polytechnic University of Turin alumni Italian civil engineers

Biography

Selected bibliography

See also

References

External links