Tunis – Celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of Il Corriere di Tunisi, the historic Italian-language newspaper that has long served as a cultural and journalistic landmark for the Italian and Italian-speaking community in Tunisia, will begin on May 21. Founded in 1956 by Giuseppe Finzi and currently edited by Silvia Finzi, Il Corriere di Tunisi is the only Italian-language newspaper still active in North Africa and the Arab world. Over the decades, the newspaper has chronicled the evolution of the Italian community in Tunisia while contributing to the promotion of the Italian language and fostering cultural dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Organised under the patronage of the Italian Embassy in Tunisia and with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tunis, the celebrations will take place from May 21 to 23 at the Santa Croce Complex, in the heart of Tunis’ Medina. The three-day programme will focus on memory, journalism, literature, music and the legacy of Italian culture in Tunisia. The event will open on Thursday with an inaugural session attended by representatives of Italian and Tunisian institutions, alongside figures from the cultural, academic, journalistic and association sectors. The first day will include the opening of an exhibition retracing the history of Il Corriere di Tunisi through the key stages of the newspaper’s development, as well as a roundtable discussion on the future of Italian-language publishing in the southern Mediterranean. This will be followed by the inauguration of an exhibition of historical publications and archival documents organised in collaboration with the Tunisian National Archives. Also on May 21, the conference “Il Corriere di Tunisi, a Vehicle for the Promotion and Preservation of Italian Language and Culture” will examine the newspaper’s role between 1956 and 1970, particularly in safeguarding the Italian language in the years immediately following Tunisia’s independence. The day will conclude with the screening of the documentary Il Corriere di Tunisi, directed by Aida Chamekh and produced by Habib Mestiri. On Friday, May 22, the conference will continue with contributions exploring the presence of the Italian language in Tunisian culture, theatre, music, journalism and higher education. The second day will conclude with the concert Francesco Santoliquido, an Italian in Tunis, performed by the Gran Duo Italiano, featuring violinist Mauro Tortorelli and pianist Angela Meluso. The concert pays tribute to the Italian cultural heritage of Tunisia through the figure of Santoliquido, the Italian composer closely associated with the city of Tunis. Saturday, May 23, the third and final day, will focus on the period from 1996 to 2026 and on the contemporary role of Il Corriere di Tunisi as an educational resource, a repository of shared memory and a platform for intercultural dialogue. During the day, the winners of the literary competition “A Story for Il Corriere di Tunisi”, aimed at Italian-speaking Tunisians and Italians residing in Tunisia, will be announced. The programme will conclude with the presentation of the novel Le ragazze di Tunisi by Luca Bianchini, published by Mondadori. (9colonne)