The President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, awarded 36 honors for Merit of the Italian Republic to citizens who have distinguished themselves for acts of heroism, commitment to solidarity, volunteerism, activities in favor of social inclusion, international cooperation, promotion of culture, legality and the right to health.

Below is the list, with a one line motivation. We have chosen to dedicate a few more words to 9 of them, to briefly tell their story.

1) Chiara Amirante, 54 years old (Rome, Lazio), Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her extraordinary contribution to the recovery of social marginality and fragility and to the fight against addiction".

2) Domiziana Avanzini, 48 years old (Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her valuable work in assisting and supporting the sick in hospital facilities".

3) Nazzarena Barboni, 51 years old (Camerino, Marche), Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her generous dedication to supporting young cancer patients and their families".

4) Carolina Benetti, 89 years old (San Giovanni Lupatoto, Veneto), Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her generosity and total dedication to the integration and support of young people with disabilities".

5) Rachid Berradi, 45 years old (Palermo, Sicily), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his passionate promotion of a culture of legality and for his contribution to the fight against social marginalization".

6) Valentina Bonanno, 30 years old (Milan, Lombardy), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her contribution, in the international arena, to the dissemination of safe practices in support of pregnancy".

7) Alma Broccoli, 92 years old (Dormelletto, Piedmont), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her commitment, during her life, in promoting the value of solidarity".

8) Laura Bruno, 91 years old (Crotone, Calabria), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For the praiseworthy example of generosity and solidarity with which she has always worked in support of marginalized people".

9) Angela Buanne, 54 years old (Naples, Campania), Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her contribution to the cause of raising awareness among young people on the issue of road safety and the fight against alcoholism and the carnage of Saturday night.

10) Ciro Corona, 40 years old (Naples, Campania), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his daily and untiring commitment to the promotion of legality and the fight against social and cultural degradation".

11) Nicoletta Cosentino, 49 years old (Palermo, Sicily), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her example of reaction and for her contribution to the promotion of a culture of contrast to violence against women and the recovery of victims of abuse".

Victim of domestic violence, after a path of recovery undertaken in the anti-violence center Le Donne Onlus in Palermo, and with the support of Centro Astalli and Associazione Pellegrino della Terra, she manages to overcome a personal history of abuse and rebuild her life. She attended an internship at a food production laboratory that led her to rebuild and rediscover herself and also her passion for cooking. From here the idea to start an entrepreneurial activity: thanks also to the support of the Di. Re. (Women in the network against violence), she obtained a loan from Banca Etica and created "Le Cuoche Combattenti", an artisan laboratory of preserves and baked goods.

12) Don Luigi D'Errico, 58 years old (Rome, Lazio), Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his daily commitment to a policy of real inclusion of people with disabilities and for the fight against poverty and social marginalization".

13) Aldo Andrea Di Cristofaro, 77 years old (Bagnaturo di Pratola, Abruzzo), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his initiatives of solidarity towards his fellow countrymen in Canada, as well as in favor of the community of origin in our country".

14) Vittoria Ferdinandi, 34 years old (Perugia, Umbria), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her contribution in the promotion of practices of autonomy and social inclusion for psychiatric patients".

15) Anna Fiscale, 32 years old (Verona, Veneto), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her passionate contribution and spirit of initiative with which she has worked on vulnerabilities and differences to transform them into social and economic added value."

In 2013, she created the social cooperative Quid Onlus, which she chairs. The cooperative has a twofold objective: to recycle excess fabric, from the remainders of big brands; to give work to disadvantaged women and in general people with fragility. The basic principle is to transform "vulnerabilities into added value". The Covid19 pandemic dealt a severe blow to the Quid Project, which had to close its stores in March 2020. Collaborating with other cooperatives scattered all over the peninsula, it has converted the production and prototyped models of reusable protective masks in anti-microbial and anti-drip fabric. Quid has created a "starter pack" for the production of the first samples and a tutorial for packaging instructions; the other cooperatives have joined the project and have been activated to start production and, in synergy, respond to market demands. This is how Co-ver was born, a reusable protective mask certified by a chain entirely Made-in-Italy.

16) Danilo Galli, 40 years old (Rome, Lazio), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his courageous and timely intervention in rescuing a woman who threatened to throw herself from a viaduct"

17) Cinzia Grassi, 62 years old (Rome, Lazio), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her important work of awareness and knowledge of the pathology of juvenile insulin-dependent diabetes and promotion of a culture of contrast to stereotypes and discrimination".

Surgeon, specialist in pediatrics. From 1988 to 2018 she is Medical Director of the State Police. Committed to the fight against abuse, maltreatment and pornography to the detriment of childhood. For fourteen years she was in service at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in the Departments with responsibility for childhood.  In 2006, in memory of her son, she founded the non-profit organization "Edoardo con noi" which is engaged in research and awareness activities. In 2019, she authored and edited "Suicide and Law Enforcement", a volume that, born from the collaboration between the Ministry of Interior and La Sapienza University of Rome (Faculty of Medicine and Psychology), offers a review of the main lines of research on the phenomenon of suicide in the Armed Forces and Police and its prevention.

18) Elisabetta Iannelli, 52 years old (Rome, Lazio), Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her commitment to protecting the rights of cancer patients and defending their quality of life".

19) Sara Longhi, 38 years old and Alfonso Marrazzo, 36 years old (Bologna, Emilia Romagna), Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For their exemplary contribution to the knowledge of diversity and the promotion of a culture of real inclusion and dialogue".

Both deaf. In 2012, looking for a place to organize artistic events for the deaf community, they found themselves starting a new activity: the "Senza nome" café, a bar whose function is to make deaf people interact with hearing people, help facilitate integration and confrontation and at the same time promote Italian sign language. Located in the center of Bologna, today it is considered a reference point for many deaf people throughout Italy.

20) Egidio Marchese, 52 years old (Aosta, Valle d’Aosta), Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his commitment to Paralympic sport and his dedication to sport as an opportunity for social inclusion".

21) Don Tarcisio Moreschi, 73 years old and Fausta Pina 73 years old (Brescia, LOmbardy), Commendators of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For having dedicated their lives, in an international context, to the care, protection and education of orphaned and disabled children".

22) Father Salvatore Morittu, 74 years old (Sassari, Sardinia), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For having dedicated his whole life to the fight against drug addiction and social marginalization".

He has always been committed to the fight against drug addiction and social exclusion. In 1980 he founded in Cagliari the Comunità San Mauro, the first therapeutic residential community for drug addicts in Sardinia and the Centro di Accoglienza San Mauro to prepare young people for the residential program and at the same time to do prevention in the area. Only two years later he created the Community of S'Aspru, in the countryside of Siligo (Sassari) using an old farm owned by the diocese. In 1984 it was the turn of the Reception Center "Città di Sassari", with the same functions as the one in Cagliari and "Associazione Mondo X - Sardegna per la difesa dell'uomo". In 1985 he began to welcome young people with HIV and AIDS in the community. Since 1998 they have been hosted in the Casa Famiglia Sant'Antonio Abate, the only social-residential facility on the Sardinian island that welcomes people affected by HIV and related diseases. He is a founding member of the Italian Society of Drug Addiction that gathers at national level the most famous researchers in the medical-pharmacological-social field.

23) Enrico Parisi, 28 years old (Corigliano-Rossano, Calabria), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his passionate contribution to the promotion of social, environmental and economic sustainability practices".

24) Valeria Parrini, 65 years old (Piombino, Tuscany), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For the valuable contribution that, for many years, she offers on the issue of workers' safety".

25) Immacolata (called Titina) Petrosino, 73 years old and Ugo Martino, 73 years old (Isernia, Molise), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For the work of solidarity offered, in the international arena, in favor of the promotion of basic welfare and health rights".

26) Michela Piccione, 35 years old (Sava, Apulia), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her courageous act of denouncing the conditions of exploitation of youth labor".27) Serena Piccolo, 18 years old (Pomigliano d'Arco, Campania), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her example of fortitude and determination".

Affected by a rare disease (bone marrow aplasia). Since January 2020, on the initiative of Serena's family and with the support of Avis of Sant'Anastasia and Admo Association, there have been several appeals via social networks to find a compatible external donor. Last June, when she was hospitalized at the Bambin Gesù Hospital in Rome, waiting for the transplant, on the occasion of her high school graduation exam, Serena chose to leave the hospital to take the exam in presence at the Liceo "Vittorio Imbriani" in Pomigliano d'Arco (which she attended before the onset of the disease) and got 100/100. She could have taken the exam remotely, from the hospital, as advised by doctors and teachers, but she strongly wanted to do it in person. In August, news arrived that a donor had been found thanks to the European registry, a 25-year-old German boy. The transplant was performed on August 21.

28) Enrico Pieri, 86 years old (Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Tuscany), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his lifelong commitment to the protection of memory, the diffusion of historical knowledge and the defense of the principles at the basis of democratic coexistence".

A survivor and witness of the massacre of Sant'Anna di Stazzema: he was ten years old on August 12, 1944 when, hidden under the stairs, he saw his parents, two sisters, grandparents, uncles and cousins die at the hands of the Nazis. He is the President of the association "Martyrs of Sant'Anna di Stazzema" and he has donated to the association his childhood home, the same one where his family was exterminated, in order to promote meetings and give space to delegations of students and researchers who go to Sant'Anna to get information and deepen their historical knowledge.

29) Christian Plotegher, 45 years old (Rovereto, Trentino Alto Adige), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his contribution in the realization of accessible and inclusive everyday life environments also for children with disabilities".

30) Fabiano Popia, 77 years old (Valsinni, Basilicata), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For his dedication and his daily commitment in promoting the culture of organ donation".

31) Giovannella Porzio, 24 years old (Turin, Piedmont), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For her passionate contribution to the removal of physical and mental barriers and the dissemination of inclusive practices".

Suffering from the rare Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease that has forced her into a wheelchair since the age of 10. Graduating in Languages for Tourism. She is Italian and European vice-champion of Paralympic dance. Always in love with dance, after high school she was able to realize her passion thanks to the Association "Ballo Anch'io" of Turin where she practices wheelchair dance. She is part of the Performer Group, which is the most advanced one, composed of both people in wheelchairs and standing dancers. They offer shows and exhibitions in theaters and events throughout Italy and participate in the Federazione Danza Sportiva championships.

32) Rachele Spolaor, 25 years old (Mestre, Veneto), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For the courage and altruism with which, at her own risk, she intervened to rescue a man who had thrown himself onto the tracks at Mestre station".

33) Mattia Villardita, 27 years old (Savona, Liguria), Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: "For the altruism and the imaginative initiatives with which he contributes to alleviate the suffering of the youngest hospital patients".

Worker in the port of Vado Ligure. Due to a congenital disease he had to face several operations until the age of 14. For the last three years, dressed as Spiderman, he has been visiting young patients (whom he defines as "the only true superheroes") in the pediatric wards of Liguria: from the hospital of Imperia to Gaslini in Genoa, passing through the pediatric ward of San Paolo in Savona. He is the founder of Supereroincorsia, a group of young people involved in volunteering who, dressed as heroes, give smiles and moments of light-heartedness to young pediatric patients.