The 2025 Sele d'Oro Mezzogiorno Award: Here's the list of winners.

The Jury has announced the names and awards of the 41st edition of the Sele d'Oro Mezzogiorno Award. The prizes will be awarded on Saturday, September 13th. At 6:00 pm, the final conference of the 2025 edition of the Award will be held at the Largo della Memoria Auditorium in Oliveto Citra, with the participation of the winners themselves. This will be followed by the awards ceremony in the presence of the mayor of Oliveto Citra and president of the organizing committee, Mino Pignata , and the president of the Sele d'Oro Mezzogiorno Award Jury, Amedeo Lepore .

Below is the list of winners, section by section, along with the respective citations.

SPECIAL JURY PRIZES

– PAOLO BARATTA , for his lifetime contribution as a grand commis d'État and for his historical reflections on the development of industrial policies in Southern Italy (1960s–1970s), contained in his latest book, “Dal Mezzogiorno. Riflessioni e coscienza dall'interno della Svimez,” published by Il Mulino, 2024;

– NATALE MAZZUCA , Calabrian entrepreneur, Vice President of Confindustria and head of the Southern Italy branch of the Italian Entrepreneurs' Association, for his tenacious work in favor of industrial development and the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture in the southern regions;

– ANTONIO POLITO , for his constant analysis of the dynamics of Southern Italy in his role as a print and television journalist, as well as an expert on the economic and social issues of the South from a unique perspective.

Memorial Award

– To ANGELA FRANCESE , worker, parliamentarian, and woman of institutions, who throughout her life has been concerned with the problems of labor, women workers, and the productive development of Southern Italy, proposing innovative solutions for the structural growth of employment and Southern society.

– Special Prize , on the occasion of the centenary of the publication of Guido Dorso's "La Rivoluzione meridionale," to Marco Santillo , professor at the University of Salerno. Throughout his academic career, he has consistently emphasized the fundamental role of the ruling classes, and in particular those of the South, with great originality and a knack for highlighting their strengths as well as their historical limitations. He recently published a remarkable volume on "The Antinomies of Italian Economic Development," published by Guida Editori in 2025.

EUROMED AWARD

UNPUBLISHED ESSAYS SECTION

ex aequo

ISMAIL EL GHARRAS : for his master's thesis on Extraordinary Intervention in Southern Italy and Public Industry: The Case of the Alfa Romeo – Alfa Sud Plant in Pomigliano D'Arco (1968-1986), which offers an important contribution to the analysis of the productive structure of Southern Italy in an era of intense change.

RAFFAELE LA REGINA : for his doctoral thesis, "For a History of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno in the Presidency Papers. The Extraordinary Intervention of the Post-War Period: History, Politics, and Institutions (1950-1981), which represents a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the histories, cultures, and knowledge promoted by the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno during its fundamental work.

NON-FICTION SECTION

ex aequo

– GIOVANNI FARESE / GUIDO MELIS (edited by) – for the volume published by il Mulino in 2025 entitled “Formez for Southern Italy and for Italy. Ruling Classes, Institutions and Economic Development from the Sixties to the Nineties,” which reconstructs the role played by Formez in training the ruling classes and in public policies for the South, from a highly valuable historical and institutional perspective;

– GIANPAOLO MANZELLA / MARCELLA PANUCCI – for the volume published in “Quaderni Svimez” in 2025, titled "In Search of Competitiveness. History and Dynamics of European Industrial Policy," which analyzes the evolution of European industrial policies and their impact on regions, with a focus on contemporary challenges for cohesion and innovation.

SPECIAL MENTION to:

– VINCENZO MARIO SBRESCIA – for the book titled "Fiorentino Sullo, Constituent, Regionalist, and Southerner. The Decisive Contribution of the Youngest Father of the Republic to the Constitutionalization of Southern Italy," published by Il Grifone in 2025.

JOURNALISM SECTION MICHELE TITO

– VENANZIO POSTIGLIONE of Corriere della Sera, for his constant commitment to narrating the country's realities and for his journalistic ability to represent the events of our time.

BONA PRAXIS AWARD (dedicated to projects that increase good practices)

– SRM (STUDIES AND RESEARCH FOR THE SOUTH) , led by MASSIMO DEANDREIS , for the Report on the most advanced and innovative companies in Southern Italy (with contributions from Salvo Capasso and others) and for its ongoing commitment to highlighting the progress and positive dynamics of the South, avoiding a solely negative reading of Southern Italy's historical and economic events.

Local Authorities Award

The Biographical and Thematic Dictionary of Women in Italy , a cornerstone of the Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia, directed by Emma Giammattei. While the Dictionary is part of the Treccani tradition, it possesses unique characteristics, contributing to the historical and geographical network of women's leadership in Italy between the eighteenth and early twenty-first centuries, a role that is often underappreciated. In science and business, women create innovative projects thanks to their "combinatorial imagination" and their ability to transcend the boundaries of knowledge.