Mauro Morandi, who became known as Italy’s Robinson Crusoe for his 32-year stay on a deserted island in the Mediterranean, died on January 3 in Modena, Italy. He was 85 years old.
The cause was a brain hemorrhage, Antonio Rinaldis said. 2023 books We talked with Mr. Morandi about life on the island.
Unlike Daniel Defoe’s hero, who was shipwrecked and eager to be rescued, Mr. Morandi chose a life of solitude.
He said he fell in love with Budelli, a pristine, undeveloped island off the northern tip of Sardinia. His arrival in 1989 was somewhat of a coincidence, he said in an interview. He left the company in 2021 – against his will. write on social media He said he was tired of “fighting people trying to get rid of me.”
Mr. Morandi’s unique choice to live in solitude has spawned at least two books. at least one songshort documentaries and countless interviews. As the world turned inward due to the coronavirus pandemic, reporters sought out Morandi’s story. Insights on isolation.
“I read and think a lot,” he told CNN in 2020. “I think a lot of people are afraid of reading because when you read, you start meditating and thinking, which can be dangerous.” You may realize how miserable your life is. ”
Budelli, one of the main islands that makes up the Maddalena Archipelago, is a small paradise occupying less than two-thirds of a square mile. It is known for its pink sand beaches surrounded by turquoise waters. The island has no running water and is not connected to the electricity grid, so it can only be accessed by boat.
Mr. Morandi lived It was an abandoned shack during World War II, and a canvas tarp had been pasted over the open space in front. He made sculptures from branches, cooked on a propane stove, read voraciously, and bought books and supplies on trips to La Maddalena, the archipelago’s largest town. Visitors also brought him food and water. He used his car battery and solar power to charge his phones and tablets.
It was, he says, “a simple life of pleasures big and small.”
“The most important thing is that I have a calm relationship with time,” he added.
For many years, he was employed by the Swiss-Italian real estate company that owns the island and served as its designated guardian.
His main task is to protect the island’s habitat from illegal tourists, who are only allowed to travel on certain roads, as part of the Italian Ministry of Environment’s efforts to protect the rare pink sand. there were. He told people about the wonders of the island and how fragments of coral and shells turned the sand pink. He picked up trash from the beaches, cleared the island’s roads, and did light maintenance.
Mr. Morandi initially chose to live as a hermit. said in an interview It was exhibited at the Maritime Museum in Genoa, which eventually welcomed selected people as part of its mission to “make people understand why they should love nature.”
He said he never missed interacting with people. “He didn’t like how 21st century humanity had become consumerist and individualistic, especially when it came to nature,” Rinaldis said. That’s why Morandi was so concerned about protecting Budelli.
When they finally had an internet connection, they took to social media to showcase the island’s unspoiled beauty.
In 2016, after a long legal battle over ownership of the island, the island was handed over to the state. Maddalena Islands National Park. Mr. Morandi was asked to leave.
Park president Giuseppe Bonano acknowledged Morandi’s unique position. “Morandi is a symbol of a man fascinated by the elements and determined to devote his life to their contemplation and custody,” he told reporters. But there were other issues, including whether Mr. Morandi could survive a medical emergency alone, not to mention that his cabin was not up to code.
he fired back. He campaigned against the eviction on social media. He gave an interview to the press. online petition It gathered nearly 75,000 signatures.
“We do not want Mauro to leave the island, because we owe it primarily to him that Budelli continues to be a natural wonder,” the petition states. It is written in “And secondly, because we are convinced that the park has everything to gain from his presence. Mauro has lived in Budelli for a quarter of a century, and every plant, every rock, every tree, I know all the animal species and I recognize colors.”Scents drift with the wind and the changing seasons. ”
But after five years of fighting authorities, Morandi relented. He was 82 years old and no longer in good health. “Part of the reason for my resignation had to do with my vulnerability,” Rinaldis said, “but I was also disappointed that I was forced to step down by the authorities.”
Morandi left the island permanently in March 2021 and moved into a small apartment on La Maddalena. “I’m leaving in the hope that Buderi will be protected in the future, just as I have been for 32 years,” he said. said.
Mauro Morandi was born on February 12, 1939 in Modena. His father, Mario Morandi, was a gymnast who won the national gymnastics championship in 1936 and later served as a school administrator. Mauro’s mother, Enia Camerini, worked for a tobacco company.
Mr. Morandi studied to become a physical education teacher and taught at a middle school in Modena until the 1970s, when he was able to take early retirement. He had three daughters during a marriage that ended in divorce.
They, their brother Renzo, and six grandchildren also survive them.
in 2016 interview Mr Morandi told the Turin daily La Stampa that he discovered the sea and “took off” after reading Richard Bach’s 1970 bestseller “The Jonathan Livingston Seagull”. In 1989, he decided to “get tired of society and seek a different life.” He and some friends bought a catamaran with the intention of sailing to Polynesia.
To raise money, they looked for a location for a charter cruise and met Buderi. There they met Budelli’s caretaker, who had recently decided to leave. He offered them his job, and Mr. Morandi accepted. He initially received a salary, but continued to work even after he stopped receiving a salary. Then he lived on a teacher’s pension. On rare occasions, he returned to Modena on short vacations to visit his family.
At one point, he read research from the University of Sassari showing that Budelli’s flora and fauna resembled those of the Polynesian islands he had once hoped to reach. “It was as if Budelli wanted me and wanted me to go to the only beach in the whole Mediterranean, which is almost the same composition of islands that I wanted to go to,” he said. Ta. In a 2016 interview With photographer Claudio Musetto.
After Morandi’s death, one of his thousands of followers on social media, Margherita Guerra, wrote: Finally, no one will be able to kick you off your beloved island. ”
