Giuseppe Ceccarelli, better known as Pino, was born in Gatteo on 15th of November 1918
He studied in the Scuola dei Guanelliani in Feltre (BL) and got a degree in teaching at the Istituto Magistrale of Forlimpopoli (FC).
He worked for a short period in the “Istituto Tecnico Industriale G. Benelli”of Pesaro. After that he worked as a primary school teacher until 1982.
Thanks to his qualities, intelligence and propensity towards social life, he has occupied important public positions since he was young. He was just 19, when he became President of ‘Gioventù di Azione Cattolica’ (Youth Cattolic Action) of Gatteo. In 1944 he joined the CLN (Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale/ National Liberation Comitee) as representative of the Democrazia Cristiana, the Catholic Party of which he became later the secretary for the section of Gatteo from 1948 to 1952. After that he became secretary of the municipal committee in the period between 1961 and 1964. In Gatteo he was President of ‘Circolo Acli’ from 1953 to 1956 and of ‘Associazione Ex Allievi ed Amici dell’Istituto Don Ghinelli’ from 1962 to 1976. Pino Ceccarelli played a major role in the political life of his town: from 1964 to 1970 he was Deputy Major, from 1970 to 1980 Town Councillor and he was one of the founders of DC in Gatteo. He was also a member of the ‘Assemblea del Comprensorio Cesenate’ and he collaborated to the cultural magazine ‘Potere Sociale’ and cooperated to the constitution of Partito Popolare. Besides politics, the ‘maestro’ Ceccarelli had a great passion for music and popular traditions. He was an appreciated dialectal poet, winner of prestigious local and national prizes. From the early 80’s he was president of the associations “C.A.P.It.” of Gatteo and of “La Siola d’Oro” of Gatteo Mare.
The first one is a cultural association that carries out a wide range of activities, such as the publication of the magazine ‘La Zanzara’ and the prize ‘Memorial Andreucci’, a “romagnolo” dialect poetry contest. The association “La Siola d’Oro” was founded in 1983 and its intensive work was focused on the figure of Lina Pagliughi, the famous coloratura soprano, who had lived and died in Gatteo. Its aim was promoting the Belcanto. The most important event of this association was the International Opera Prize.
For 40 years Pino Ceccarelli was also Council member and internal auditor in the local bank.
When he was librarian in the library Fracassi-Poggi of Gatteo, he got the possibility to valorise local figures, such as the poets Guido Antonelli and Alberto Andreucci, the military engineer of the Spanish Court Battista Antonelli (XVI century), the soprano Lina Pagliughi and the lute-maker Arturo Fracassi. In 1963, in recognition of his activities, he got the title ‘Cavaliere della Repubblica’ from the President Antonio Segni and ,in 1997, he became a member of the ‘Accademia dei Filopatridi’. In spite of his poor health, he dedicated his full life to teaching and to the historical and cultural memory of Gatteo. His wife Carla Casadei, who married him in 1954, stood by him his whole life. They had four children: Claudio, Marco, Simona and Roberta. Pino Ceccarelli died on February, 22nd 2002 and was buried in the Communal Cemetery of Gatteo.
The Town Council of Gatteo acknowledged his love for books and culture dedicating to him the new local library that was inaugurated on October 19th, 2008.
