30 Nov 2009

Tuscany was the first country to abolish death penalty and torture in 1786. Certainly a reason to be very proud.

A reason to be proud…

I guess I have always been proud of being a Tuscan woman. Tuscany is a great place to live, and one of the most beautiful places in the world, both for its landscapes and for its city-scapes, for its art and for its culture.

November 30 is Festa della Toscana (Tuscany Day). The festivity is recent: it has only been celebrated since 2001, but the occasion is quite remarkable. Today, Tuscany celebrates the 223rd anniversary since Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo abolished the death penalty and torture in 1786. Tuscany was the first “country” (it was an independent country back then) to end capital punishment, and this, I believe, is a good reason to be very proud.

Pietro Leopoldo believed that death penalty and torture were practices “convenient only to barbarian people”, and 223 years ago, a similar stance was certainly a progressive way of thinking. It still is.

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