TARQUINIA Many colleagues, many friends, many young people and the whole world at the funeral Marcello Melandriin the medieval church of San Gerosolimitano in Tarquinia. The number of criminal lawyers who participated in the funeral was impressive – completely anti-rhetorical, precisely in the spirit of Melandri who was also much loved for his straightforward and unassuming character – and they did so wearing togas or holding them in their hands. «He didn’t give it to me, but I wanted to wear it in his honor», said one of the youngest colleagues.
GENERATION
Different generations of lawyers, and each of them knew that a master remained and Melandri, who died at the age of 82 as a prince of the forum, was experienced by everyone in the funeral in his native Etruria, even if his family was from Ravenna, as a man whose doctrine and spirit could be trusted and whose lessons would remain.
Franco Coppi, one of the first to arrive from Rome, recalled him like this: «He was not a big, pedantic, opinionated lawyer. But a person who combined imagination and science, creativity and culture.” Yes, this is Melandri. In the front row of the packed church were his wife Silvia, his sons Matteo and Michelangelo, who are also lawyers, his daughter Marcella, and other loved ones in front of the coffin where – of course – Melandri’s toga was placed.
There was businessman and publisher Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone with Malwina Kozikowska, his son Francesco Caltagirone, professors and jurists, Coppi and Roberto Rampioni, and many lifelong colleagues, such as Maurizio Bellacosa, Gianluca Tognozzi, Alessandra Giovagnoli, Giosuè Naso; judges (everyone respected him in the courts of Rome) such as Mario Palazzi, who was now chief prosecutor in Viterbo; a pair of true friends like Leonardo Caltagirone and his wife Aura, as well as a group of colleagues who found in Melandri a guide for their professional growth and for studying the philosophy and practice of justice in the field.
Lawyer Riccardo Olivo (who also wore a toga to mass) observed: «There is a square in the middle of the courthouse and Melandri is the true soul of this kind of Roman agora. He had a joke for everyone and knew more than anyone how to lighten the mood at every opportunity.” A lawyer like this, who handled cases of great importance ranging from the so-called Romance of Tangentopoli to the Ilva complex in Taranto, and the Moggi case and many more, had the rare ability to make everyone listen based on the wisdom of a mediator combined with deep thoroughness: and in this combination was the key to his excellence.
Here are Tasco’s three lawyers: their father Giampiero (“I have so much left of my best friend Melandri, starting with the memories of our skiing in Cortina”) and the two sons Nicola and Andrea. Here are a dozen women lawyers who are moved and grateful (“We owe him everything”). Here’s a post-boy like Marco Guidi, a talented lawyer from the firm Paola Severino, who wrote an article in the Il Messaggero column on Tuesday that discussed in depth the figure of Melandri. And here there are about ten people wearing leather biker jackets because that’s what it is, as is Melandri (“Two-wheeled lawyer”, as they call him) in the group of Harley Davidson fans. One of them, Graziano, a big man almost two meters tall, said: «In our team, Marcello’s nickname is Brontolo». The parish priest who presided over the funeral mass was also part of the motorbike riding team and said from the pulpit: «In Heaven, Marcello will continue to ride around on his Harley».
REGARDS
His son Michelangelo then went up to the altar and said: «Father asked us to avoid funeral speeches. So I just want to say thank you to all of you who are here. And he’ll thank you from up there.” Few words. That’s how it’s done. There’s no snobbery in his music either, and he’s a real fan – often sitting in the front row of the Auditorium at Santa Cecilia concerts – of classical music. Melandri wanted to see, on his farewell day, not salamelecchi but togas and motorbikes. And he was satisfied. The final image, outside this church, thin and strong as he is, like a hearse Goes, the applause of lawyers in lawyer costumes and the roar of motorbikes who dedicated the final lap to Marcello.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
