Bocconi War Memorial
The war memorial was created by the sculptor Adolfo Wildt (1868-1931).
The work consists of a white-marble memorial stone measuring 3.5 by 1.84 meters carrying the engraved names of “the students who died for the Homeland”, as the University dedication states; originally the writing was in blue. The fire, placed at the base, represents the flame of sacrifice, from which rises “the great spear that was wielded in defense of the Homeland”. The spearhead is surrounded by a halo composed of 65 flames symbolizing the sixty-five souls of the Bocconians fallen during World War I.
The memorial stone was unveiled on 26 February 1921 at the old University location in Piazza Statuto. The families of the students who died were invited to the ceremony and a commemorative postcard depicting the monument itself was issued.
In the second half of the 1940s, Francesco Wildt (1896-1969), son of Adolfo, worked on the memorial to add the names of the Bocconians who had perished in World War II as well. Respecting the material and fonts of the original memorial, he added to the monument two lateral slabs of marble with the years 1939 and 1945 in Roman numerals.
In 1947 the monument was placed in the atrium of the new University location at Via Sarfatti 25, and then found its current location in Piazza Sraffa near the Velodromo.