Javier De Nicoló, (29 April 1928 – 22 March 2016) or Saverio (Javier) De Nicolò was an Italian-born Colombian

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priest who developed a program that has offered more than 40,000 young people the education and moral support they needed to become productive citizens. Father Javier De Nicoló received countless distinctions.

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

was one of those who paid tribute to the father Javier De Nicoló. De Nicoló was awarded La Orden De Boyacá (Colombia's highest government honor).

Life

Javier de Nicoló was born in Bari,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1928, the youngest of six children in the family of de Nicolò Lattanzi. His father was wounded three times in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and died when Javier was still a child. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Javier pursued his vocational training in a slaughter- house, after bombing raids destroyed his high school. In October 1949, as a

seminarian A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, Javier de Nicoló landed at Buenaventura, Colombia a year after the

bogotazo El Bogotazo (from "Bogotá" and the ''-azo'' suffix of violent augmentation) refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 194 ...

. Javier de Nicoló was ordained priest on 28 October 1958. Javier de Nicoló spent his life in the planning and implementation of projects for the rehabilitation and education of thousands of street children, especially in the cities of Bogotá,

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 6 ...

and Barranquilla. He had a determination to live up to his resolution: "the best experience in the world is to serve humanity."

published the book "Street children", about his work and life, which were honored in Washington, on October 25, 2001. Javier received the award "Ivy Humanitarian Prize ' a lifetime of humanitarian achievements", created to strengthen and differentiate those who have made great contributions to the well-being of children. Father Javier de Nicoló received countless distinctions such as the recognition made by the UNICEF and the award "

Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity The Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity ( it, Stella della solidarietà italiana ) was founded as a national order by the first President of the Italian Republic, Enrico De Nicola, in 1947, to recognise civilian and military expatriates or ...

" by the Government of Italy. De Nicoló directed both the government's Instituto Distrital para la Protección de la Niñez y la Juventud (IDIPRON) and the nongovernmental organization he had founded, Fundación Servicio de Orientación Juvenil (FSJ). IDIPRON helps children rescued from the streets. Javier de Nicoló died in Bogotá on 22 March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolo, Javier de 1928 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Colombian Roman Catholic priests Colombian human rights activists Colombian educators Italian emigrants to Colombia People of Apulian descent

Life

See also

References