Special Campiello 2025

Books

To Lauro Marchetti the Campiello Natura Prize

14 September 2025

2' min read

It is Lauro Marchetti, with his book "Memorie di Ninfa" (Allemandi Editore), the winner of the third edition of the Campiello Natura - Venice Gardens Foundation Prize. The announcement was made yesterday during the concluding press conference of the Campiello Prize, held at the House of The Human Safety Net, located in the Procuratie Vecchie in St. Mark's Square in Venice.

The writer was then honoured on stage at La Fenice, during the award's closing ceremony. Presenting the prize to Marchetti was Adele Re Rebaudengo, President of the Venice Gardens Foundation.

Born out of the synergy between the Fondazione Il Campiello di Confindustria Veneto and the Venice Gardens Foundation, the award is aimed at literary works that, with sensitivity and depth, interpret and foster a profound and harmonious relationship with nature on the basis of affinity, balance and respect, contributing to its preservation, listening and understanding.

The Jury of Literati of the Campiello Prize declared the winner with the following motivation:

"A book that recounts from its origins the life, essence and soul of an extraordinary garden that has come down to us thanks to the commitment, vision and foresight of the noble lineage of the Caetani princes, lords of Ninfa and Sermoneta; in particular, of the women of the lineage, Ada, Marguerite and Lelia.

A shining example of intelligent and generous patronage, sculpted not in but by the vivid memory of a dense life, a theatre of extraordinary experiences, to which Lauro Marchetti was witness, as an 'actor', and is now guardian, as an 'author'.

A beacon for all those who love nature, for all those who still retain the ability and right to marvel and 'feel' in depth."

The Venice Gardens Foundation's Commission of Experts, chaired by Adele Re Rebaudengo, had also selected among the finalists: Franco Faggiani with "Basta un filo di vento" (Fazi Editore) and Marco Albino Ferrari with "Il Canto del principe. Storia di un albero" (Ponte alle Grazie), works that, together with the winning book, represent a precious testimony of literature's ability to address complex issues and to offer unprecedented food for thought on the relationship with nature, inviting constructive dialogue and a concrete commitment to its protection.