In 1884, at the age of 23, Beatrice Visocchi, youngest daughter of Senator Alfonso Visocchi (1831–1909), passed away. It was a great sorrow, considering that the other seven children had all died in early childhood: Giulia (1865–1866), M. Maddalena (1866–1866), Giulietta (1867–1873), Gabriele (1870–1870), Giuseppe (1871–1874), Giulia (1873–1873), M. Francesca (1875–1881).
Beatrice was the only surviving child and grew up “flourishing in rare virtues and adorned with beauty and purity.” She married Dr. Vincenzo Alessi, professor of anatomy at the University of Messina. She died in childbirth, thus depriving her family of a long-awaited joy.
“These cruel sorrows,” recalled Senator Visocchi, “struck our souls and my wife almost lost her mind, but religion and charity came to our aid: the former helped us bow our heads respectfully to the divine will, the latter reminded us of our constant wish to contribute all our strength to the education of our people.”
That wish came true on 30 November 1889, when the new nursery school dedicated to their daughter Beatrice was inaugurated and donated to the citizens. The solemn occasion also marked the centenary of liberation from the French and the brigands (1 October 1789).
The children who benefited from this important service were 230, aged between 4 and 7. “The first education of present and future generations” was ensured by an annual endowment of 5,000 lire, guaranteed by Alfonso Visocchi and his wife Angelina Vecchiarelli (1842–1920).
Madame Angelina gave the children of the Asilo all the affection she had been unable to give to her own prematurely lost children. Her generosity also made possible the founding of a drawing school for workers’ children, the creation of a “Sunday recreation center” where the young could practice gymnastics and go on “educational walks,” the establishment of a “low-cost kitchen” to feed the poor, and the renovation of the hospital. The latter became the emergency service for the Val di Comino, as it was equipped with hygienic facilities, housing for the nuns, beds, linens, and top-quality surgical supplies.
Ministers Boselli and Credano honored Mrs. Visocchi’s dedication to early childhood education and public instruction with a silver medal (1890) and a gold medal (1910). Among the nuns who animated the institution was Sister Nicodema Balsamo of the Sisters of Ivrea (1860–1961), who had been present in Atina since 1886, when the Asilo was temporarily housed in the Palazzo Sabatini outside the town walls.
Behind you, built into the rear façade of Palazzo Tutinelli, you can see a round arch topped by a large biforate window with a multi-faceted quadrangular column, all dating to the Renaissance period.
Alfonso Visocchi
(1831-1909)
Deputy and Senator of the Kingdom, he held several important positions: commissioner of the general budget committee; rapporteur on the tax on movable wealth, on the extension of land credit, on land reclamation, emigration, international transport of goods, the Tavoliere delle Puglie, the agricultural budget, and laws on national and provincial road construction funds, among others.
His liberal and anti-Bourbon background led him to support Cavour’s formula of “a free Church in a free State.” Upon his death, Hon. Cantarano remembered him in the Chamber of Deputies, stating that “few have had a parliamentary career as long as Alfonso Visocchi’s. He entered at the age of 34 and remained for 45 years. A man of merit to Parliament and the Nation, he was an example of integrity and industriousness.”