San Marco Award - The President of Venice International University, Amb. Umberto Vattani recognized by the Mayor of Venice

On the occasion of the Feast of St. Mark awards ceremony on April 25 at the Palazzo Ducale, a special award was presented to Ambassador Umberto Vattani, President of Venice International University for his service to the City of Venice.

In receiving the award, a magnificent winged lion in red and gold glass, symbol of the Serenissima, ambassador Vattani thanked the Mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, the authorities and those present, recalling the countless activities carried out by Venice International University in the city and sharing the award with all the team of his collaborators:

“These results would have been impossible – declared the ambassador – without the extraordinary collaboration of the Dean and all my collaborators, even those who are no longer with us. For this reason, I would like to dedicate this recognition, of which I am proud, to the splendid team on whom I have always been able to count."

Ambassador Vattani received the award from the Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro with the following motivation: "Umberto Vattani is an Italian diplomat, the only one in the history of the Italian Republic to have twice held the position of General Secretary of the Ministry of Affairs Foreign. Furthermore, he was the last president of the National Institute for Foreign Trade until its transformation into an ICE Agency in 2011. Ambassador Vattani is a great friend of Venice, he leads the Venice International University which is based in San Servolo. Thanks to his commitment we managed to finalize the agreement with Toyota and Eni which led to the opening of the first hydrogen distributor in Italy. Umberto Vattani is undoubtedly the ambassador of "Made in Venice".

The Lion of Saint Mark is a winged lion that symbolically represents Saint Mark the Evangelist, patron of Venice. It is customary for towns and cities to celebrate the feast day of the town's patron saint. The feast of St. Mark falls on April 25, which coincides with Liberation Day, the Italian national holiday commemorating the liberation of Italy from Nazi occupation and fascism.