25 May 2026
Don Ciotti: "Let us not look for him in the ashes; let us look for him in life and in the people he loved"
Moni Ovadia: "He will be remembered like Nelson Mandela and Ernesto Che Guevara, great fi gures who gave us hope and strength" Monsignor Pompili: "His successes cannot be explained without acknowledging that his true aspiration was not so much the palate, but the land"
Edward Mukiibi: "The global movement pays tribute to you today: the planet loved you, and your legacy lives on"
Memorial Cerimony photos selection
Video playlist
Fundraising in memory of Carlo Petrini for Students Scholarships and Africa Gardens
Pollenzo, 24 May 2026
They came from every region of Italy, from neighbouring countries such as Switzerland and Germany, and even from Japan and Mexico: Slow Food members and leaders, activists, friends, students and alumni of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, fi gures from the worlds of culture and entertainment, political representatives, entrepreneurs and journalists. Thousands gathered in Pollenzo (Bra) for the fi nal farewell to Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, President of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, of Terra Madre and of the Laudato Si' Communities, in what, like Magritte's pipe, was not a funeral but a celebration of a man who defi es every defi nition, every framework, every defi nitive judgement: "a visionary of another era, but without the pose of a visionary; a political man who could not stand the cages of politics; a profoundly secular person, capable of grasping the religious sense of the land, of bread, of community, of friendship. A man of the world who remained a son of Bra. A pious agnostic, as Pope Francis called him, and perhaps never was a defi nition more precise and, at the same time, more paradoxical," those present recalled during the eulogies.
At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated him in their own countries and communities, gathering around his fi nal wish: "keep going, stay united" as happened across Latin America and in Côte d'Ivoire.
Sunday is Earth Markets day across Italy, and each market paid tribute to Carlo in its own way, including a minute of silence in Frascati and other towns, while the Mercatale del Valdarno, the very fi rst market that inspired the project, closed its stalls for the day and travelled by coach to Bra to say goodbye.
Beneath the trees lining the entrance avenue of his University, lifelong friends and people who had shared his values and vision brought their words of farewell: Nicola Perullo, Rector of the University of Gastronomic Sciences, and Edward Mukiibi, President of Slow Food, who arrived in Bra 17 years ago as a student from Uganda. They were joined by musician Moni Ovadia, the Bishop of Verona Domenico Pompili, actress and close friend Lella Costa who travelled from London, Don Luigi Ciotti, President of Libera and Gruppo Abele, students Camilla Calabrese and Lucia Hendel of UNISG, and old and new friends Vincenzo Ercolino, Luca Martinotti and Stefania Giubergia.
Nicola Perullo, Rector and Vice-President of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo
"This is not, in the end, a funeral. It is something more complex, more alive. It is a great collective resonance around all that Carlo has left us. Now is the time to feel united in his spirit. The phrase chosen for today reads: 'Those who sow utopia reap reality.' And it is perfect. Because Carlo was, above all, a sower. Many remember him as a great gastronome, an innovator in food, agriculture and production. But those who truly knew him understand that Carlo could not be confi ned to any label. His strength was his ability to move across boundaries. He could speak to anyone: from the farmer to the Pope, from the fi sherman to the king. And this gift grew from the rare union of two qualities: charisma and generosity. The charisma was a natural gift. The generosity, on the other hand, was a constant choice: the ability to listen, to welcome ideas, experiences and people. Carlo was a great leader, but also someone who knew how to learn from anyone, to absorb everything and give it back to the world in a new form. And I can almost still hear his voice, his expressions, his unique way of encouraging us: 'Full steam ahead. Hold your course and put your heart beyond the obstacle.'"
Edward Mukiibi, President of Slow Food and UNISG alumnus from Uganda
"Dear Mother Earth, thank you for giving us your son Carlo. Dear Carlo, thank you for entering our lives. Your Mother Earth and the entire Slow Food world are deeply grateful for your work. Our hearts are fi lled with sorrow on one side, but on the other they overfl ow with gratitude for all the seeds you planted in this earth. Seeds of humanity, of humility, of empathy, of love, of compassion, of the intelligence of the heart. You taught us to believe in ourselves and in the power we have to change the world through food. You made us believe that a better world is possible. You loved Africa; you gave life to one of the most inspiring projects, the Slow Food Gardens in
Africa. You gave us Africans the opportunity to study gastronomy and rediscover the richness of our gastronomic culture. Africa loves you, is grateful to you, and will carry you in its heart forever. You loved this planet; you fought for years to defend biodiversity; you touched the lives of millions of people around the world. The global movement pays tribute to you today: the planet loved you, and your legacy lives on."
Moni Ovadia, friend, actor and musician
"Carlin was a patriarch who forged a path pointing toward redemption from ugliness, violence and hatred. When I think of the great rulers of the world, I cannot help but reflect: what small men they are, compared to this titan. With him, many of us discovered this extraordinary land, the Langhe. This land nourished Carlin, and he carried his place into the world and the world into his place, proving that we are a universal humanity, a single humanity, nourished by the same earth. He taught us that the land must be respected, that we are its custodians and not its masters. Ten lifetimes would not be enough to thank Carlin, from the raucous, boisterous laughter to the sense of a project of redemption for humanity. He was a giant of humankind; knowing him was an extraordinarily rare privilege. Arriving here without being greeted by Carlin's smile was very hard: I had come to terms with the passing of Ravinale, then Azio, but I thought Carlin would live forever. I am not a believer, but I have a reasonable relationship with the Almighty and I intend to lodge a complaint: I wanted him to at least outlive me. Carlin proved that you can be a serial joker and still become one of the greatest men on this planet: he will be remembered like Nelson Mandela and Ernesto Che Guevara, great figures who gave us hope and strength. To Carlin I say: get a Slow Food ready on the other side, because we simply will not be able to do without it when we are no longer here."
Camilla Calabrese (Italy) and Lucia Hendel (Argentina), two students who spoke on behalf of the large community of UNISG students and alumni spread across more than 100 countries
"We, the students of Pollenzo, stronger and more united than ever, will keep moving forward. We will bring together all our energy to expand this movement to every corner of the world. We will do so with the conviction that it is possible to have a world where food is good, clean and fair for all; where clean water is a right and food sovereignty a reality; where indigenous knowledge, farmers, herders, fi shers and artisans are protected from cultural erasure. We want to move forward celebrating human, cultural and environmental diversity, and protecting the planet from the agrochemical industry, in order to hand a sustainable future to those who come after us and to all living beings. And even if this may seem like a utopia, we know that with conviction, love, joy and the companions with whom we walk, our struggle will become reality. Carlo was in love with life: with people, with food, with dancing, with the Langhe hills and with the struggles shared alongside his friends. He told us: 'You cannot change the world in a state of fear. This must be a joyful struggle!' And following his example, we believe that doing things with love is the most revolutionary act of our times. All of us who were fortunate enough to have lived through university alongside Carlin have a duty to pass this on to future generations. We will continue to create spaces for sharing and to fi ght so that food is good, clean and fair for everyone, everywhere."
Don Luigi Ciotti, President of Libera and Gruppo Abele
"With Carlin, we experienced fi rst-hand an invitation to lift our gaze, as a small daily exercise in humanity, a humanity we need now more than ever because in our country, and beyond, there is a great haemorrhage of humanity. He did not accept half-measures, half-words or excessive caution. Carlin always turned a gaze of humanity toward those who needed a welcoming look. He embodied a vision of integral ecology as a framework for life, a sense of meaning that is necessary for everyone, no one excluded: the joy of being able to believe in revolutionary change and in a new humanity. He was great in promoting the sacredness of food; he
always defended the sacredness of life, the freedom and dignity of life, against all its abuses. When we see things that are wrong, we cannot stay silent: he taught us that there are moments when silence becomes a fault, and speaking becomes a moral obligation, a civic responsibility, an ethical imperative."
Vincenzo Ercolino, a lifelong friend, who retraced 40 years of adventures, projects and visions
"I can imagine the roar of the tributes. The dazzling rhetoric. Everyone will want to claim their own Carlo Petrini: the founder, the prophet of good, clean and fair food, the man of Slow Food, Terra Madre, Pollenzo, the companion of Pope Francis, the defender of biodiversity, the singer of slowness, the universal Piedmontese. All true, of course. But also all insuffi cient. The truth is that Carlin never only sought food. He sought humanity. He sought it in farmers, in cooks, in winemakers, in cheesemakers, in innkeepers, in students, in the old, in the young, in distant peoples, in remote communities, at humble tables, in markets, at congresses, in taverns, on endless journeys, in discussions that seemed never to end. He sought it without preconceptions, without the obligation to always give a complete explanation of what he intuited. Because many times Carlin saw before he understood. He sensed before he ordered his thoughts. He sniffed out the future the way one sniffs a wine, a cheese, a changing season. And perhaps that was where his greatness lay: in never reducing life to a system."
Monsignor
Monsignor Domenico Pompili, Bishop of Verona
"I fi rst met Carlo in the days after the Amatrice earthquake. The last time we saw each other was on 21 March this year, here in Pollenzo, with the Laudato Si' Communities we had founded together. What always struck me about Carlin was his elegance and his sense of proportion: he did not think too highly of himself, nor did he take himself too seriously; he could be in a packed auditorium and then moments later with three friends, without changing his posture or losing his naturalness. Carlin lived within precise ideological infl uences, yet he cannot be reduced to any party: he was a happy anarchist. Biodiversity was the battle of his life, cultural even before it was alimentary. He was a free man, endowed with peasant wisdom, rough boots and a sharp mind, and capable of savouring life: in him, taste was miraculously transformed into knowledge. Carlin never played the role of a mourner for the old beautiful world: what saved him from becoming a grumpy guardian of nature, a pedantic environmentalist predicting the end of the world at every turn, was the logic that drove him, not the logic of duty, but of
pleasure. His successes cannot be explained without acknowledging that his true aspiration was not so much the palate, but the land."
Actress and friend Lella Costa
"The thing I will miss most about Carlo is his gaze, sharp but above all welcoming; it did not discriminate, it did not judge. Carlo did not judge. He might get very angry, but he did not judge. That is what made him a wonderful companion in life, on the road and on the journey. […] Carlo was also capable of tackling the most serious, diffi cult and complex things, and then dismantling it all for the pleasure of a joke, to lighten the mood."
Luca
Luca Martinotti, UNISG alumnus and collaborator of Carlo Petrini, speaking on behalf of all Slow Food and UNISG colleagues
"During these last long, very long weeks, hearing your sister Chiara call you 'Carlin' as she lovingly tended to you with all her care and attention conveyed a sense of tenderness and great purity. In these fi nal days, however, I came to know the most intimate dimension of this nickname of yours: a term of endearment you had carried with you since birth. Carlin, you were an eternal dreamer. You chased until the very end an island that perhaps does not exist, but that is worth looking for. You pointed us toward it, instilling in everyone who came into contact with you that desire to keep believing in a better world, one that is good, clean and fair. But you did even more than that. You traced a path and took millions of people by the hand, convincing us that from the humblest things, from simplicity and with lightness, it is possible to build reality from dreams. You taught us to always resist for what is profoundly right, and until the very end you resisted in a world that is still not entirely ready for your revolution. You did so with wisdom and dignity, always preferring, over artifi cial intelligence, affective intelligence. And that is what we must do too. You transformed the lives of many people, often at their moment of greatest need. You were a beacon to follow, not the kind that lights up what is a few metres ahead, but the kind that points to the farthest place one can reach."
