Patron of Ticino culture
Mario Agliati was born in Lugano in 1922 and spent his youth in Ticino. Having graduated from Fribourg University with a degree in teaching, he returned to his home region. There he first worked as a journalist, including a time as editor of the “Gazzetta Ticinese”. In 1953 he founded “Il Cantonetto” in Lugano, a cultural magazine of which he is still the publishing director. He later left the media to return to teaching and taught at Lugano Vocational College up to his retirement. Over the years he experienced a growing interest in the culture, history and landscape conservation of the Italian-speaking regions of Switzerland.
As a historian, Mario Agliati published numerous works, such as “Lugano del buon tempo” in 1963, the second volume of “Storia della Svizzera” in 1969, and six years later with Rodolfo Mosca “Ottobre 1925: l’Europa a Locarno”. Agliati also devoted himself to fictional literature, such as with his outstanding novel “L’erba voglio” (1966) or the anthology “La profezia del dottor Donzelli” in 1991. Ten years ago, Agliati finally dared try his hand at painting for the first time, garnering much acclaim for several paintings which he exhibited in Lugano. On his 80th birthday, the City of Lugano dedicated the monograph “A memoria d’uomo. Omaggio a Mario Agliati per i suoi ottant’anni” to this great patron of Luganese and Ticino culture.