Monument to Orazio Raimondo

The idea of erecting a monument to Orazio Raimondo in Sanremo began to take shape only a few weeks after the sudden death of the lawyer and politician from Matuzzo, when the proposal was particularly supported by a group of friends and admirers of the deceased.

In February 1920 a national committee of honour was set up to promote the erection of the monument, with the participation of illustrious personalities from the political, military and academic worlds, including Luigi Albertini, Giovanni Amendola, Ivanoe Bonomi, Enrico Caviglia, Mario Missiroli, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and Antonio Salandra. At the same time an executive committee was founded in Sanremo, made up of authoritative representatives of local institutions, combatant associations, the press, student organisations and trade unions, with the aim of working towards the erection of the monument.

After the sculptor Vincenzo Pasquali had taken over the mask of the deceased and the fund-raising process had begun, the work was entrusted to Leonardo Bistolfi, who was already a close friend of Raimondo himself.
The Piedmontese sculptor thus created a bronze statue of the San Remo politician in the final phase of his artistic activity.

According to a rumour circulating at the time, Bistolfi, having completed the monument in 1932, having modelled only the bust, died the following year and his heirs had the rest of the figure added by an anonymous and mediocre sculptor.

However, the monument was only unveiled on the morning of 21 February 1960 in an open space in the municipal gardens along Corso Salvo D'Acquisto in front of the Morgana, in the presence of the highest local authorities and a large audience, who listened to the official oration given by the President of the Bar Association of Genoa, Andrea D'Andrea.

The Sanremo politician is portrayed standing with his right hand on his chest, in an oratorical attitude, on a pedestal placed on the base of the monument, which is devoid of bas-reliefs and on one side of which is engraved the simple inscription: "Sanremo to Orazio Raimondo 1875-1920".

(source taken from the book "Sanremo Guida al patrimonio artistico e monumentale della città";  images from the web and private archives)