“The real luxury is to return”: the wish of the Venetian Prince Giovanni Alliata to Jeff Bezos

«My mother’s wedding in Venice, on February 13, 1953 in the Basilica of Health, moved the whole city. They were other times, it is true, but the great public gestures still had a collective value ». To speak is Giovanni Alliata di MonterealeRoman nobleman, Venetian by adoption, historian, publisher and very fine observer of the dynamics of power, son of Yana Cini and Prince Fabrizio Alliata di Montereale. It welcomes us in his home a few steps from Campo San Vio, with the elegant tone of those who saw half of Europe pass in front of a cup of tea. Under your fingers, volumes on Cini, Venice and illuminated foundations. There is also talk of the recent marriage between Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sànchez, the center of international media attention. “The Cini – he explains – built kindergartens, hospitals, workers’ houses. Bezos ships his beloved in space (with the hope that he will come back!). They are different languages, but the symbolism has changed today “.

And as he tells, he makes a jump back in time: to the maternal grandfather Vittorio Cini, entrepreneur and patron, among the protagonists of the industrial and educational relaunch of the Veneto. «In Santa Marta – he dwells – my family built houses for workers; In Pellestrina, the Hospitality House Santa Maria del Mare; On the island of San Giorgio, the Center for the Arts and Crafts and the Marinaro Center, which since the 1950s were a point of reference for the younger generations of all of Veneto. And also in Rome, the green nest for the polio -group dedicated to “Lyda Cini”, a great theatrical and cinematographic actress, Vittorio’s wife “. Then recalls the figure of the maternal grandfather and the foundation on the island of San Giorgio, who still retains the imprint of that educational and social vision; here the promised spouses will be expected. “The wedding of the future? They should perhaps be inspired by those concrete gestures. But without moralisms. Because, in my world, a public kiss can be theatrical and sincere at the same time », he underlines. His wish, polite and affectionate, is that Bezos unites the feeling for his future wife also a sincere love for Venice. «Who knows Venice cannot conquer him as Lauren did. And maybe – he adds – it invests in the Giorgio Cini Foundation, and throughout the city. It would be a gesture that speaks the language of the heart, but with very real repercussions “.

A hope that comes from those who saw, in their family, the union between love, philanthropy and patronage: the marriage of the mother Yana Cini Alliata di Montereale was accompanied by important liberalities intended for the Venetians. What if you were to imagine an heraldic coat of arms for Jeff Bezos between a rocket and a first package? “Perhaps – he concludes – only a big heart would be enough”. Smiles. But, as aristocrat, he knows well that even a heart, if authentic, can be an eternal symbol.