Iacopo Melio

Iacopo Melio (born 28 April 1992) is an Italian politician, journalist, author and human and civil rights activist. In 2017, Melio was named a "European Citizen" by the European Parliament. In 2018, he was awarded Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.[2]

Io non-sono la mia carrozzina, così come nessuno sarà mai il suo paio di scarpe. Ognuno di noi è le proprie abilità, non le proprie difficoltà.[1]

I am not my wheelchair, just as no one will ever be their pair of shoes. Each of us is our own abilities, not our own difficulties.

— Iacopo Melio
Iacopo Melio

OMRI
President of Italy Sergio Mattarella presents Mr Iacopo Melio with the OMRI award in 2018
Born (1992-04-28) 28 April 1992
San Miniato, Italy
Alma materUniversity of Florence
Occupations
  • Politician
  • journalist
  • author
  • human and civil rights activist
Years active2014–present
Known forHuman and civil rights activism
Political partyDemocratic Party

Life

The son of Claudio, a factory worker, and Barbara, a teacher, Iacopo Melio was born with Escobar syndrome, a rare genetic syndrome for which there is no research for prevention or cure, and uses a wheelchair to get around; he has often joked about his condition, saying for example that he was born "with four wheels to get around because he was born comfortable."[3][4][5] He has a younger sister, Costanza, born in 2007.[6]

Activism

He graduated from high school in 2011, then he graduated in political science from the University of Florence in 2020.[7] In 2014, he created an online awareness campaign using the hashtag #Vorreiprendereiltreno, which was internationally successful[8][9][10][11][12][13] and involved the singer Lorenzo Baglioni, who sang with Melio the song "Canto anch'io (No, tu no!)",[14] a cover of Enzo Jannacci's song "Vengo anch'io. No, tu no"; the following year he founded an ONLUS of the same name,[15] of which he was president until 2020.

Journalism

In 2016 he started collaborating with the online newspaper Fanpage.it, in 2019 he started further collaborations with The Post Internazionale and La Repubblica, and in 2021 with Vanity Fair Italia and Next Quotidiano.[7] In the same period of time he has published four books: Parigi XXI, an autobiographical novel in prose and poetry; Faccio salti altissimi, an autobiography; Buonisti, a semi-serious essay on intolerance and hatred, especially online; Tutti i fiori che sei, a collection of stories dedicated to his sister. He has also taken part in two TEDx conferences, in 2017 and 2019.

Political activity

On 21 July 2020 he announced his candidacy for the 2020 regional elections in Tuscany in the ranks of the Democratic Party,[16] of which he was the leader in the constituency Florence 1, where on 20–21 September of the same year, with 11,233 votes, the highest number of preferences, he was elected regional councillor.[17]

Honours and awards
Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic – ribbon for ordinary uniform
Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic – ribbon for ordinary uniform
Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
"For his passionate contribution to the cause of breaking down architectural barriers and cultural stereotypes."
— Rome, 29 December 2018[2]
  • "European Citizen" award
«For translating the values of solidarity and international cooperation into practice.»
— European Parliament, 22 September 2017[18]
  • CILD civil liberties award – Best young Italian activist – Coalizione Italiana Libertà e Diritti Civili, 4 December 2018[19]
  • Tuscan communicator of the year
«For having distinguished himself in communicating and disseminating a theme, a message of social relevance, a positive image of the Tuscany Region.»
— Corecom, 7 dicembre 2018[20]
  • SuperAbile award – Communication section
«For the incisiveness, originality and constancy with which he carries on, with commitment and passion, the battle for the protection of the rights of people with disabilities.»
— INAIL, 3 December 2021[21]

Works
  • Melio, Iacopo. Parigi XXI (in Italian). Turin: Miraggi. ISBN 978-88-99815-09-7.
  • Melio, Iacopo (2018). Faccio salti altissimi: la mia storia oltre le barriere, tra ruote bucate e amori fuori tempo (in Italian). Milan: Mondadori. ISBN 978-88-04-68602-6.
  • Melio, Iacopo (2019). Buonisti (in Italian). Gallarate: People. ISBN 978-88-32089-32-5.
  • Melio, Iacopo (2021). Tutti i fiori che sei (in Italian). Milan: Rizzoli. ISBN 978-88-17-14921-1.

References
  1. Spagnolo, Vincenzo (27 September 2020). "Neo eletto. Melio: "In carrozzina il mio record al voto"". Avvenire (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  2. Segretariato generale della Presidenza della Repubblica, Servizio sistemi informatici. "Onorificenze: gli "esempi civili" insigniti da Mattarella". Quirinale (in Italian). Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  3. Melio, Iacopo (16 December 2016). "Venti risposte semiserie a chi mi chiede perché sono in carrozzina". fanpage.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  4. Abbate, Mattia (5 November 2020). "La politica che non dimentica i disabili, il progetto di Iacopo Melio: "Così possiamo eliminare le barriere"". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. "'La disabilità è solo una caratteristica che accomuna tutti noi in qualcosa'. Intervista a Iacopo Melio". 055 Firenze (in Italian). 28 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. Ruviglioni, Patrizio (22 September 2020). "Iacopo Melio vince la sua battaglia: eletto consigliere regionale in Toscana". L'Espresso (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  7. "Curriculum – Iacopo Melio". iacopomelio.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. "Iacopo che vorrebbe prendere il treno". www.lastampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  9. "Anche io spesso #vorreiprendereiltreno". invisibili.corriere.it (in Italian). Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  10. "Disabili, 22enne fiorentino lancia l'hashtag #vorreiprendereiltreno". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 3 July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  11. "#vorreiprendereiltreno, Iacopo Melio canta contro le barriere architettoniche e conquista tutti. La sua petizione su Change.org". Huffington Post (in Italian). 22 September 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  12. "#BBCtrending: 'I'm single because of the bus'". BBC News. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  13. "Student sparks viral discussion on disability access in Italy". Al Jazeera. 3 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  14. ""Canto anch'io": il brano di Lorenzo Baglioni e Iacopo Melio batte Justin Bieber su Itunes". La Nazione. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  15. "Chi siamo". vorreiprendereiltreno.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  16. "Firenze, Iacopo Melio annuncia: "Mi candido col Pd"". la Repubblica (in Italian). 21 July 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  17. "Consiglio regionale della Toscana". www.consiglio.regione.toscana.it (in Italian). Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  18. "Firenze, premio cittadino europeo: tra i vincitori Iacopo Melio di "Vorreiprendereiltreno"". la Repubblica (in Italian). 22 September 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  19. "Premio CILD per le libertà civili. Ecco i vincitori dell'edizione 2018". cild.eu (in Italian). 29 November 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  20. Redazione Nove da Firenze. "Corecom, i comunicatori del 2018: Ilaria Bidini e Iacopo Melio". www.nove.firenze.it (in Italian). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  21. "SuperAbile INAIL – Il servizio di Inail compie 20 anni: festa in tv per la consegna dei Premi SuperAbile". www.superabile.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
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