Imagination and learning: a dialogue with the past
Who was Ernesto Rossi? And what if he could talk to students today?
Ernesto Rossi was an anti-fascist intellectual, best known for his authorship, with Altiero Spinelli and Eugenio Colorni, of the Ventotene Manifesto, a founding text for a free and united Europe. His resistance to totalitarianism and advocacy for a federal Europe as a means of safeguarding peace and democracy established him as a pivotal figure in the early history of the European Union.
Beyond his published writings, Rossi left behind a remarkable collection of personal letters. Many of these are preserved at the Historical Archives of the European Union and the Fondazione Ernesto Rossi e Gaetano Salvemini in Florence. Rossi also had a passion for puppets—an unexpected but powerful form of expression. These two sides of his life—serious political thought and creative storytelling—have inspired educational activities that bring even young students closer to Europe’s shared past.
After successful pilot sessions with a primary school on the island of Ventotene, where Rossi and his co-authors were once interned, the Archives launched a new workshop aimed at kindergarten and primary school classes visiting Villa Salviati.
Letters across time
This learning activity begins at school, where students and teachers read a series of fictional letters prepared by the educational team, imagined as written by Ernesto Rossi. Based on real documents, these letters reveal who Rossi was as a person: his likes and dislikes, his relationship with his mother Elide Verardi, his friendships, his memories of exile, and his partnership with Ada Rossi, a fellow anti-fascist and European federalist.
Each letter invites a response. Children are encouraged to draw their favourite places, talk about friendship, and describe their own lives—entering into a dialogue with Rossi that brings European history closer to their own experience. In this way, the past becomes personal, and the ideals of empathy, memory, and Europe become tangible.
Reconstructing the past through archival materials
When the students arrive for their visit at the Archives, they examine facsimiles of original documents from the Rossi collection: letters, photographs, posters.
With the support of the Archives’ educators, they build a timeline of key events and reflect on the meaning of Europe through the lens of Ernesto and Ada Rossi. The students step into the role of young historians—asking questions, interpreting sources, and connecting historical evidence with present-day values. This visual and narrative journey brings Ernesto and Ada Rossi to life, from their private moments to their political commitments and their shared dream of a united Europe.
Memory takes the stage
The workshop on Ernesto Rossi also includes a creative activity inspired by his love of puppetry. Living in a period of severe restrictions on freedom of speech, Rossi found puppets to be a viable avenue for expressing his ideas of liberty and unity in coded yet powerful ways. One of his favourite puppets was called Fagiolino, a classic character from the Italian puppet tradition. At school, students make their own puppets using recycled materials and traditional techniques, giving them voices to speak about freedom, community, and hope.
The final activity brings everything together in a small puppet theatre set up in the Grotte of Villa Salviati. Using material from the imagined letters and archival sources, as well as the puppets created by the students, the classes stage a short performance featuring Ernesto Rossi, the island of Ventotene, and his beloved puppets, Fagiolino and Fagiolina. Through movement, music, and dialogue inspired by Rossi’s own words, they explore themes such as the struggle for a united Europe, the strength of friendship, and the courage to resist. This creative performance becomes a celebration of imagination, memory, and the powerful ideals at the heart of Europe. It transforms historical learning into a memorable, shared experience connected to their own lives.
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