Ambassador Schiavo presents the Stella d’Italia to writer Amara Lakhous

(ANSA) - ROMA, 27 OTT - The Italian Ambassador to Algeria, Alessandra Schiavo, presented the Italian-Algerian writer Amara Lakhous with the title of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy, an honor conferred upon him by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella back in 2021 but which could not be presented at the time due to the pandemic. The ceremony, held at the Italian Residence, brought together members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Italian community and the “Scuola Roma” in Algiers, senior officials from the University of Algiers 2, the Faculty of Languages, and the Department of Italian Studies, the director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Algeria, Paola Cordone, and numerous Algerian publishers, journalists, and artists. Ambassador Schiavo recalled the reasons for awarding the honor to this writer, who was born in Algiers and later moved to Rome during the “Black Decade.” Having acquired dual citizenship, Lakhous mastered Italian to such an extent that he has become one of the world’s rare examples of perfectly bilingual writers. He is the author of a prolific body of work in Arabic and Italian—with some of his novels translated directly from the Italian text into numerous European and non-European languages —Lakhous has distinguished himself for his tireless commitment to promoting the Italian language and culture, which he now teaches in the United States at Yale, one of the most prestigious universities on the international stage. “By making the encounter between languages one of the defining elements of his work,” said Ambassador Schiavo, “Lakhous has shed light on the themes of exile and identity, contributing to reflection on many contemporary urban contexts.” Amara Lakhous’s visit to Algeria is part of the program promoted by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Algiers on the occasion of the 26th Week of the Italian Language in the World, dedicated this year to the theme “Brilliant Language: Conceive, Design, Create with Italian.” The program includes meetings with students and faculty from the Italian Studies departments of four Algerian universities (Annaba, Algiers, Blida, and Oran), as well as the author’s participation in the 29th edition of the Salon International du Livre d’Alger (SILA), scheduled for October 28 through November 7. The book fair will mark the 20th anniversary of the Italian publication of “Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio,” one of the author’s best-known novels and a significant work of contemporary literature on the transformations of multicultural societies.
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