Mauro Morandi, whose 32-year stay on a deserted island in the Mediterranean earned him the nickname of Italy's Robinson Crusoe, died on January 3 in Modena, Italy. He was 85 years old.
The cause was a brain hemorrhage, said author Antonio Rinaldis 2023 books about his life on the island with Mr. Morandi.
Unlike Daniel Defoe's hero, who was shipwrecked and desperately hoped to be saved, Mr. Morandi chose a life of solitude.
She said she fell in love at first sight with Budelli, a pristine, undeveloped island off the northern tip of Sardinia. It came in 1989, somewhat by accident, he said in interviews. He left against his will in 2021. writes on social media He said he was tired of “fighting against those who wanted to send me away.”
Mr. Morandi's choice to live alone has spawned at least two books. at least one songshort documentaries and countless interviews. Journalists Mr. Morandi as the world is turned inside out during the coronavirus pandemic concepts of isolation.
“I read and think a lot,” he told CNN in 2020. “I think a lot of people are afraid to read because if they read, they'll start meditating and thinking about things, and that can be dangerous. If you look at things from a different perspective and take a critical approach, you can see what a miserable life you are leading.”
Budelli, one of the main islands that make up the Maddalena archipelago, is a paradise that occupies less than two-thirds of a square mile. It is known for its pink sandy beach surrounded by turquoise water. The island has no running water, is not connected to electricity and can only be reached by boat.
Mr. Morandi lived In an abandoned World War II shack, he was gluing canvas tarps in the open field in front of him. He made sculptures out of branches, cooked in a propane oven and read voraciously, buying books and supplies on trips to La Maddalena, the archipelago's largest town. Visitors also brought him food and water. He used car batteries and solar power to charge his cell phone and tablet.
It was “a simple life of great and small pleasures,” he said.
“The most important thing,” he added, “is my calm attitude to time.”
For years, he is the appointed guardian of the island, employed by the Swiss-Italian real estate company that owns the island.
Its main task was to protect the island's habitat from unruly tourists, who are only allowed on certain roads, as part of the Italian Ministry of the Environment's efforts to protect the rare pink sand. He told people about the wonders of the island, how pieces of coral and shell turned the sand pink. He picked up trash from the beach, cleaned the island's roads, and did light maintenance.
Mr. Morandi first chose to live as a hermit, he said in an interview At Genoa's maritime museum, however, he eventually welcomed a select few as part of his mission to “understand why we should love nature.”
He said that he does not miss human contact. “He didn't like what humanity had become in the 21st century — consumerist and individualistic — especially in relation to nature,” Mr. Rinaldis said. That is why Mr. Morandi was interested in protecting Budelli.
When he finally got online, he used social media to showcase the island's untamed beauty.
In 2016, after a long legal battle over the ownership of the island, it was handed over to the state and became part of the island. Maddalena Archipelago National Park. Mr. Morandi was asked to leave.
Giuseppe Bonanno, the park's president, acknowledged Mr. Morandi's unique position. “Morandi symbolizes a man bewitched by the elements who decides to devote his life to contemplation and control,” he said. But there were other issues, including whether Mr. Morandi would survive a medical emergency on his own, not to mention that his cabin was not up to code.
He fought back. He campaigned against her eviction on the social network. He gave interviews to the press. Online application It has collected about 75,000 signatures.
“We don't want Mauro to leave the island, because first of all we think that if Budelli remains a wonder of nature, it is thanks to him,” the petition said. “Secondly, we are sure that the park has everything to gain from his presence: Mauro has lived in Budelli for a quarter of a century, he knows every plant and every rock, every tree and every species of animal, he knows the colors. and scents with the change of wind and seasons.”
But after five years of fighting the authorities, Mr. Morandi surrendered. He was 82 years old and is no longer in good health. “Part of his resignation was because of his fragility,” Mr. Rinaldis said, “but he was also disappointed because he was forced to leave by the authorities.”
Mr. Morandi left the island for good in March 2021 and moved into a small apartment in La Maddalena. “I hope in the future Budelli will be protected as I have done for 32 years,” he said. he said.
Mauro Morandi was born on February 12, 1939 in Modena. Her father, Mario Morandi, was a gymnast who won the national gymnastics championship in 1936 and later worked as a school caretaker. Mauro's mother, Enia Camellini, worked in a tobacco company.
Mr. Morandi trained to be a physical education teacher and taught high school in Modena in the 1970s, when he was able to retire early. He had three daughters during the marriage, which ended in divorce.
They survive him, as do his brother Renzo and six grandchildren.
a 2016 interview Mr Morandi told Turin daily La Stampa that after reading Richard Bach's 1970 best-seller Jonathan Livingston's Seagull, he “flew away” exploring the sea. In 1989, he said he decided he was “tired of society and looking for a different life”. He bought a catamaran with some friends with the idea of sailing to Polynesia.
To raise money, they scouted for charter cruises and came across Budelli. There they met Budelli's caretaker, who had recently decided to leave. He offered them his job and Mr. Morandi took it. At first he was paid, but even after he didn't get paid, he stayed on the job; then he lived on his teacher's pension. He rarely returned to Modena for short vacations to visit his family.
At one point, he read a study from the University of Sassari showing that Budelli's flora and fauna resembled the Polynesian islands he once hoped to reach. “Almost Budelli wanted me, I made sure I went to the only beach in the whole Mediterranean. In a 2016 interview with photographer Claudio Muzzetto.
Following Mr Morandi's death, one of his thousands of followers on social media, Margherita Guerra, wrote: “Safe travels. Finally, no one will be able to take you away from the island you love.”