The Gold Florin of the city of Florence to Paolo Penko

The highest Florentine honour that the Municipal Administration of Florence awards every year to Italian citizens or citizens of other countries who, through their notorious work in the fields of culture, the arts, work in all its forms, politics, welfare, philanthropy, sport or international activities, have brought particular prestige to the city and its institutions and rendered a service to the national and international community and are therefore worthy of public commendation.

The traditional Golden Florins award ceremony took place on Sunday 23 June 2019 at the newly restored San Niccolò ramps.

As far as organisations are concerned, the recognition of the Gold Florin goes to the Operational Civil Protection Transplant Logistics Unit of Florence, to the Fondazione CR Firenze, which among other things financed the restoration of the San Niccolò ramps, to the ‘Giorgio La Pira’ International Student Centre, to the “Artigianato e Palazzo” event hosted in the Corsini garden, to Firenze in rosa onlus, to Caritas diocesana for the Vittoria Family House project that hosts people with health problems and to the women of the Florence Dragon Lady-Lilt. The following personalities were awarded the Gold Florin: Father Bernardo Gianni of San Miniato al Monte, master goldsmith Paolo Penko and Stefania Salvadori, astronomer and lecturer at the University of Florence.

“I would also like to thank the Mayor, Dario Nardella, for choosing such a magical location, and I greet the civil and military authorities, His Eminence, and all of you Florentines who, with your presence, make this moment truly special and unforgettable…

It is a real emotion to receive this important recognition from my city, a city that is for me an inexhaustible source of inspiration for my “daily work”. I also receive this Fiorino d’oro on behalf of my wife Beatrice, who has always been by my side on this journey, and on behalf of my sons Alessandro and Riccardo, to whom I have always tried to convey the essence, the true value and the responsibility of being a Florentine craftsman.

I also welcome it on behalf of my father… who accompanied me for the first twenty years of my activity and who is no longer with us… but who would be very happy and proud of all this… an acknowledgement that also goes to the “artisan’s workshop” as a place of culture, of identity of a city like our Florence, an acknowledgement of a small “family business”, where every day, “love of the will” that moves even the smallest things, is the teaching and the truest and most important, significant legacy of those who have gone before us. … I would like to dedicate it to all those young people who dream of embarking on this journey into the world of artistic craftsmanship, so that they can truly realise their dreams…

And to all the craftsmen who still today, as in the past, with skill, professionalism, ingenuity, creativity and sacrifice make this city great and unique.

Long live Florence!!!”