On the occasion of the fifth edition of the “Italian Research Day in the World”, an integrated promotion exhibition that enhances the commitment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the field of scientific diplomacy, The Embassy of Italy in Pristina and the National Theatre of Kosovo will be celebrating the astrophysicist Margherita Hack (1922-2013) by staging the monologue entitled “Oceano Margherita”, written by Gabriella Greison. The event, which has been organized to mark Italian Research Day, will take place on Tuesday 10 May 2022 at 20:00. Entrance is free.
As Gabriella Greison, who in addition to being a playwright and actress also has a degree in physics, underscored: “This text, with which I wanted to pay homage to this Italian scientist in the centenary of her birth, has not been performed before. During the performance we will share Margherita Hack’s most important thoughts and discoveries. We will navigate her sea, a sea of witty remarks and legendary sayings”.
The event – in Italian with Albanian subtitles – has been produced in collaboration with Kosovo’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport relying on the financing made available by the Fund aimed to strengthen the Italian language and culture abroad.
“The idea of bringing this performance to Pristina arose from a conversation with the Minister for Education, Arbërie Nagavci, and her deputy, Edona Maloku, whom I wish to thank”, said the Italian Ambassador to Kosovo, Antonello De Riu. “We were speaking about the need to identify new ways to spark interest in the applied sciences among female students and to increase awareness of gender inequalities, which still exist in the world of science. Recounting the life experiences of a great Italian scientist like Margherita Hack, as a model to inspire the new generations, therefore seemed to us an ideal way to help eliminate stereotypes and social prejudices”.
Margherita Hack was an Italian astrophysicist, academic/scholar, science disseminator and activist. She was the first woman to manage the Trieste Astronomical Observatory (from 1964 to 1987) which, under her management, has gradually affirmed itself nationally and internationally. She was particularly interested in physics, spectroscopy and stellar evolution and has accompanied her abundant scientific essay writing with constant dissemination activity. The asteroid “8558 Hack” discovered in 1995, was named in her honor.
Gabriella Greison 48 years old, is an Italian physicist, dramaturg and theatre actress. She graduated in nuclear physics at the State University of Milan with a thesis on the experimental study of the propagation of fast electrons in a vacuum chamber. She is in charge of scientific dissemination for various radio and television programs, has conducted and is the host of in-depth study scientific programs. Has written several books, some of which have been transposed into theatrical monologues. She has been defined as the “Italian woman of popularized physics” and also the “rock star of physics in Italy”.
