Sesto San Giovanni (; lmo, Sest San Giovann, label=
Western Lombard ), locally referred to as just Sesto ( lmo, Sest, links=no), is a ''
comune'' in the
Metropolitan City of Milan
The Metropolitan City of Milan ( it, città metropolitana di Milano; lmo, label=Milanese, cittaa metropolitana de Milan ) is a metropolitan city (not to be confused with the metropolitan area) in the Lombardy region, Italy. It is the second mos ...
,
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
, northern
Italy. Its railway station is the northernmost stop on the
Milan Metro M1 line. The comune has the honorary title of city, despite being a ''
de facto'' suburb of Milan.
An unimportant agglomerate of buildings until the 19th century, Sesto San Giovanni grew during the end of the 19th century and in the early 20th century, becoming the site of several industries, including companies such as
Falck,
Campari,
Magneti Marelli and
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
. In that period the population increased rapidly, from 5,000 inhabitants in 1880 to 14,000 in 1911. After
World War II, Sesto became populated by many migrants from other parts of Italy, leading to an increased population of 95,000 inhabitants in 1981. Sesto used to be referred to as the "
Stalingrad
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
of Italy", due to the strong historical presence of the
Italian Communist Party and to its resistance to fascism in World War Two.
Because of its diverse and growing industries, Sesto has drawn many immigrants. Census statistics from 2016 state that 17% of the population is composed of immigrants.
In the 1990s, Sesto San Giovanni suffered an economic crisis, and most of the larger companies in the town closed their premises. The town partially succeeded in converting its economy from steel production to service industries. Several large companies opened offices in Sesto, such as
ABB Group,
WIND Telecommunications,
Impregilo and
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...
.
On 23 December 2016,
Anis Amri
On 19 December 2016, a truck was deliberately driven into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, leaving 12 people dead and 56 others injured. One of the victims was the truck's original dri ...
, perpetrator of
Berlin truck attack was shot fleeing in the city by the police.
Sesto San Giovanni received the honorary title of city by presidential decree on 10 April 1954.
People
*
Ferdinando Terruzzi (1924–2014), railway cyclist
*
Nicolás Cotugno (born 1938), former Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Montevideo, Uruguay
*
Teresa Sarti Strada
Teresa Sarti Strada, (28 March 1946 – 1 September 2009) was an Italian teacher, pacifist and philanthropist who, together with her husband Gino Strada, founded Emergency, an NGO dedicated to providing free medical treatment to the victims o ...
(1948–2009), co-founder of
Emergency
*
Gino Strada (1948–2021) war surgeon and founder of ''
Emergency'', a UN-recognized international humanitarian organisation that gives free medical treatment to victims of war
*
Massimo Carrera (born 1964), footballer and coach
*
Marco Saligari (born 1965), cyclist
*
Barbara Fusar-Poli (born 1972), figure skater
*
Fabio Macellari
Fabio Macellari (born 23 August 1974 in Sesto San Giovanni) is an Italian footballer who currently plays as a defender for Bobbiese in Prima Categoria.
Football career
Macellari started his career at Pro Sesto (Serie C1). He then signed by U ...
(born 1974), footballer
*
Franco Masetto
Franco Masetto (born July 10, 1942 in Sesto San Giovanni) is an Italian former professional footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are associ ...
(born 1942), footballer
Twin towns - sister cities
Sesto San Giovanni is twinned with:
*
Saint-Denis, France
*
Zlín, Czech Republic
References
Cities and towns in Lombardy
{{Milan-geo-stub