Farewell to Stefano Benni. Pennac: "I couldn't let him leave alone." His son's tears. Live broadcast.

Giulio is 13 years old, and as a child his parents read him "Stranalandia." As a child, he was obsessed with "The Shitty Mouse," and here at the Arena he chooses "The Prontosaurus" to commemorate him. He's the youngest of the readers who spoke. "I started reading it again just this summer, starting with "The Bar Under the Sea," and I find that no one can describe humanity like him."

Roberto Morgantini , founder of the Cucine popolari in Bologna, chose to remember his friend Stefano at the Arena with an article written by Benni for Il Manifesto on the occasion of the 2002 strike in which 3 million people took to the streets in Rome. It began like this: "I saw things you humans can't even imagine. I saw the Circus Maximus lawn bloom with red flags like Monet's painting of poppies. I saw Berlusconi's face distort like Munch's Scream. I saw seventy-year-old pensioners, after twelve hours on a bus, leap off in one fell swoop, wave their flags, and start shouting 'Forza Cofferati, we're here!' Only then realizing they were still at the Roncobilaccio service station..."

For hours, many paid tribute to Stefano Benni at the funeral chapel at the Archiginnasio. Laura, who accompanied her sister, an avid reader, was in line: "But now, hearing all the friends who remembered him, I'm really longing to read his books."

Francis takes the stage at the Arena and explains that he works at the Historical Archive of the Movements on Via Avesella, where the editorial office of 'Antitesi', of which Benni was editor-in-chief, was located. He reads three poems, including a personal Our Father in verse, a secular prayer that ends: "Our Father, who are one of us/free the comrades/all the communists/lead us not into temptation/pay the bail/Amen." And Francis salutes with a clenched fist.

At the Arena, the collective reading continues, the readers' tribute. The fifteenth person to take the stage in the cloister is Alessandro, who chooses "Terra!". "I grew up reading Benni's books. I chose these pages because I had read them in middle school, but rereading them as an adult, I realized that the most inflammatory parts had been cut out. You be the judge..."

"I took one step, then another, and a journey began, opening up to ever new meanings." This is how actress Angela Finocchiaro, speaking at Stefano Benni's funeral, remembered him, emphasizing the wisdom and imagination of the writer who laughed at himself and the world. The actress breaks down when she recalls Stefano Benni's "power to illuminate our path with that gaze that harmonizes the toil of life, humor, and poetry." Finocchiaro bursts into tears, a liberating cry, "Thank you, Lupo." And a prolonged applause.

Minister of Universities and Research Anna Maria Bernini also arrives at the Archiginnasio to pay homage to "a great Bolognese, a reserved man, whom I always found very sympathetic. He will live on in his works, he will always be close to us, even if in a different dimension. My favorite is Bar Sport."

At Benni's funeral, Alessandro Bergonzoni remembered him like this: "Best wishes, Stefano, you're a born writer. The newspapers applaud you."

At the Arena del Sole, culture councilor Daniele Del Pozzo chose to pay homage to Benni with a very short poem taken from 'Sooner or Later Love Arrives':

In Filicudi All naked To eat

Raw fish

Daniel Pennac upon arriving at the funeral chapel for Stefano Benni: "He was my brother, a brother of laughter and in the ideal life. He's the one who introduced my books to Italy, and after that we became best friends. I certainly couldn't let my friend go alone."

"Patron saint of every written line, singer of placeless places and signs in alphabetical disarray." With these poetic and visionary words, actor Alessandro Bergonzoni remembered writer and poet Stefano Benni during his funeral at the Archiginnasio in Bologna. "Stefano was always engaged in everything that demands to be first seen and then observed," the actor said. "You will continue to exchange glances in the meantime, meeting mine and ours, every time we think of you and read about you." Bergonzoni concluded his greeting with an image: "Every book you open, every page you turn, looks at you, Stefano.

Because every sheet of paper claps with the other. Let's try to hear this sound of the sheets clapping for you."

In the Arena cloister, readers follow one another, ordinary people who remember Benni through his writings. Andrea notes that the theme of death is often present in Benni's books. And he reads the words the writer dedicated in "Elianto" to the bonuses everyone has in life: three hundred thousand beers, one million and seventeen thousand sneezes, thirty trips abroad, the ability to say the word "insomma" six hundred and sixteen thousand times, six hundred and twenty-three footbaths, one million ice creams, three great loves, nine bicycles, six hundred and two sea baths, sixty liters of tears, forty-six kilometers of spaghetti, three hundred and seventy thousand spelling mistakes, forty thousand crossword puzzles, three road trips at 120, three thousand hours of poker, ten million and seventy thousand cigarettes, cigars, and pipe puffs, sixteen major disillusions...

Among those queuing to read was Vita, a doctor at Maggiore Hospital. Before performing passages from "The Bar Under the Sea," she said: "I arrived in Bologna in '94. I grew up with the legend of Benni, and then I found him as a patient, recognizing glimpses of lucidity, even though he could no longer write. But he always had the same eyes..."

The microphone on stage passes to actress Marinella Manicardi, who recalls the writer's friendship with Roberto Roversi. "When someone dies, they immediately become a saint, but Stefano was also rightfully evil. He had a grudge against stupidity." Therefore, to remember him, she chose the poem "Do you have an idea?" which goes, among other things, like this: "Don't you have an idea? / But yes you do, give it to me, come on / we'll sell it to RAI / we'll make it profitable."

Representing the Region, Councilor Isabella Conti spoke at the commemoration at the Archiginnasio: "Stefano Benni was able to tell the world about us with great delicacy and sensitivity. I have an edition of Bar Sport in my bag that my father carefully preserved. He had the ability to make us see infinity in the little things. The other characters I hold dear are the emergency room and the beauty case from the Bar sotto il mare. His ability to see so much tenderness, so much sensitivity, so much meaning everywhere did me good as a young girl. I would like to start a project to have his books read in schools so that we can rediscover that world. Thank you to Stefano Benni for everything he represented."

In the already crowded cloister of the Arena del Sole, director Elena Di Gioia kicked off the reading marathon to pay homage to the writer. "We immediately wanted to accept Stefano's son's invitation to gather in every way," she said, "in chorus with the open pages of Stefano Benni's great open book to say a huge thank you. Because we owe him so much gratitude, for everything he has given us." Di Gioia kicked off with a play written for the theater, "Tragedia da Bar," and noted that "we will also compose a new work by Stefano Benni, an unexpected montage reflecting the choices each of you will make."

David Riondino and his personal memories in homage to Benni: "He often hosted me in his home and in his universe," says the writer. "That of animals, but also in the infinite quantity of nymphs, demigods, spirits, an affirmed and coherent polytheism. A world of spirits in which his mission was to defend freshness against aridity, innocence against anger."

And the unwary representative of Milan ate it... Who doesn't remember? The Luisona, which has become a fixture in the imagination of the people of Bologna and beyond, was reproduced in the bar in the Arena del Sole where the reading marathon in homage to Stefano Benni began.

The line is long for the tribute to Stefano Benni at the chapel of rest set up in the courtyard of the Archiginnasio. Bologna hasn't forgotten him.

Daniel Pennac, standing before the coffin, addresses Stefano Benni: "When Federico Fellini died, you told me: he died because he could no longer dream. It was clinically true. Instead, he had been writing them down in a diary for thirty years, and suddenly he could no longer dream. The same thing happened to Stefano with laughter. Suddenly, the disease took away his ability to laugh." Pennac's speech is both moving and hilarious, as the Wolf would have wanted. Her words are always addressed directly to him: “Lupo, the day you made me laugh the most was when you told me you wanted to open a psychoanalysis practice for insects and animals. You had an extremely serious case, an individualistic ant, but there was also a dog who adored his owner but couldn't stand his smell. Or that elephant who found his trunk hanging down and combed it back all day. I think if God stole his laughter, it's because he's depressed and urgently needed Stefano. He opened his own psychoanalysis practice.” And now “he has his first patient, Benni, an angel who suffers from vertigo. The next patient is God, who unfortunately is depressed. He told him he needed one more day in creation to make man less stupid, less evil. Come on, Stefano, we'll all be there soon.”

Carlo Feltrinelli remembered him like this, a moving personal and professional tribute: "Stefano played a decisive role in the cultural positioning of our publishing house. I loved him deeply; we shared countless adventures around Italy. Inge loved him very much; their bond was evident. He was subversive and fantastic." It wasn't easy as an author: "We couldn't send him on television. Having him do an interview was like sending him to the dentist without anesthesia. Literary prizes were out of the question. Behind his tantrums was a lesson. Literature is a rare commodity; it must be pursued beyond any cliché." And again: "We argued many times. Many times he told me, 'I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore.' Then he'd meet up with Montroni for coffee. Today we want to maintain this bond in the name of things that last and deeply touch the hearts of men and women."

Representing the Region, during the commemoration at the Archiginnasio, Councilor Isabella Conti spoke: "Stefano Benni was able to tell the world about us with great delicacy and sensitivity. I have an edition of Bar Sport in my bag that my father carefully preserved. He had the ability to make us see infinity in the little things. The other characters I hold dear are an emergency room and the vanity case from the Bar Sotto il Mare. His ability to see so much tenderness, so much sensitivity, so much meaning everywhere did me good as a young girl. I would like to start a project to have his books read in schools so that we can rediscover that world. Thank you to Stefano Benni for everything he represented."

“A heartfelt thank you to the thousands of people who wanted to remember my father with anecdotes and photo books. I was overwhelmed by an outpouring of affection. They told me that thanks to his books they found love, they overcame a difficult time, someone had a snowflake tattooed on their hand, I thought it was very beautiful.” These are the words of Stefano Benni's son, Niclas, at the funeral chapel. He is crying. He continues: “I spoke to people from 12 to 85 years old. I believe that was the strength of Stefano's books, which remain ever relevant; there is something that resonates regardless of convenience, even politics. He said, I don't care about being a bestseller; I want to be a long-seller.” And so it was, both things, actually. There was the Stefano of his readers and the private Stefano in the flesh. There are illnesses that annihilate the person but leave the body. These days, I'm seeing my father in a more sincere and complex light. Seeing my father again with his light and his shadows, his irony, his wit, his sense of social justice, and also his fragilities and complex insecurities. Being able to draw on this collective memory is a gift for which I am grateful and I thank you.

"I think it's important as mayor to say that today we need to understand the significance of his work," Mayor Matteo Lepore said. "When he returned to Bologna, he said, 'I feel Bolognese only because of my affections,' because he had also criticized our city so much, as an act of love. Stefano had encouraged us to do more and better on the housing emergency. We must not forget his words. I invite Bologna to continue reading in honor of Benni. Looking within and, above all, beyond, at this city that he supported in so many, often silent ways. A generous man to whom Bologna owes so much. Fair winds, may the earth rest lightly upon you."

At Benni's funeral chapel, writer and friend Daniel Pennac said: "I couldn't let my friend go alone," he said. "It's thanks to him that I'm here!"

Daniel Pennac "Benni and I, brothers, between books and great laughter" by Fabio Gambaro September 10, 2025

His brother Andrea Benni arrived at the funeral chapel accompanied by Roberto Morgantini. "Lupo was a character known to everyone," he said in an interview with Repubblica . "I, however, had a private Lupo, something unique to me. I'm proud of having had a very intense adolescence with him, events that no one knows about and that Stefano has written about. I would capture them and see them; it was us, our countryside, our places, which he then made magical, available to everyone, but also to me, in my memory."