Sulmona
Josiah the American wins the XVII Certamen Ovidianum
A 15-year-old prodigy, passionate about Latin and Greek and Italy. The edition of the Contest is being closed with a great success.
To say the least, it was a surprising edition, that of the XVII Certamen Ovidianum Sulmonense. To triumph in the appointment with the competition of the high school of Sulmona over 60 students coming from all over Europe and for the first time also from the United States, truly an American.
It's the 15-year-old Josiah Meadows, of the Legal Home School of Georgia (USA) to win, bringing home the most sought-after title, because he had the best translation of the passage from Ovid's Metamorphoses and because he chose to use the Latin language for the commentary.
Josiah, who resembles a small Obama because of his facial features, was awarded a cash prize of 1,000 euros, a diploma of merit, a miniature reproduction of the statue of Ovid, a gift of books, and typical products offered by the European Food and drink.
He's a boy who loves Italy because he says it's the meeting point of Latin and Greek, which he speaks and studies as if they were living languages. He expresses himself perfectly in Italian even though he doesn't have any connection with our country, he has already won literary prizes and he has even written a fable in Latin.
"A prodigy, a talent that has surprised and fascinated us beyond for his potentiality also for his manners, his affability" explains the the director Caterina Fantauzzi. At the award ceremony the 15-year-old thanked and greeted the audience with a speech in Latin, between long applauses, and he promised to come back next year.
On the podium of the Certamen the second-place winner Valentina Moroni of the Liceo Classico De Gasperi Battaglia of Norcia received a cash prize of 750 euros and a diploma of merit, the third-place winner Giulia Di Stefano of the Liceo Cavour of Turin received a cash prize of 500 euros and a diploma of merit.
Special prizes "Giuseppe Di Tommaso" and "Achille Marcone" for the best translation of each foreign delegation: for Austria to Linda Liu of the BG8 Plaristengymnasium of Vienna, for Bulgaria Betina Yaneva of the Liceo Classico Constantino Cirillo II of Sofia, for Germany Maximilian Leo Linkersdorff of the Kepler Gymnasium Tubigen, for Montenegro Katarina Femic of the Gimnazija Slobodan Skerovic of Podgora, for Romania Diana Elena Moldoveanu of the Colegiul National Bogdan Petriceicu, for Serbia Lucija Danilo of the Filoloska Gimnazija of Belgrade, and for the United States Josiah Meadows of the Legal Home School of Georgia.
Furthermore, a rare edition of a work of Ovid, printed in 500, had been offered by the Rotary International Club of Sulmona to the best ranked student of the Liceo Ovidio which went straight into the hands of the Sulmonese Eleonora Aielli, class V C that the Borsa di Studio last took home, in memory of the Ferrucci brothers, dedicated to the students of the Liceo Classico Ovidiano who have gotten the best average grades in the course of the last three hundred years of study.
18 Italian high schools and 19 foreign high schools representing Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and the United States of America participated in the international Latin contest which took place in Sulmona on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of April. One of the nicest editions - Mrs. Fantauzzi makes known - which has given great excitement made possible thanks to the precious contribution of the professor and pianist Sabrina Cardone, to the soprano Manuela Marulli, and to the extraordinary performance of the two actors Paquale Giannantonio and Sara Di Sciullo. An event that has seen a strong presence of the citizens, that has offered a sitting room where there were conversations about Ovid lead by professor Domenico Silvestri, who is already dean of the Universita Orientale of Naples and of professor Paolo Pocetti of Tor Vergata who introduced an interesting and refined continuum between language and civilization in the inscriptions of the Peligno territory.
So, it was an edition that reconfirms the caliber of an international contest following the trail of successes in this way for 17 years in the name of Ovid and Sulmona.
Anna Spinosa
postato il 17/4/2016 alle ore 13:01
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