Giovan Battista Rusca and the Spirit of Locarno

ORGANIZER: Fondazione Federica Spitzer

Locarno. Palazzo Marcacci.

Thursday, 18 September 2025, 6:00 pm

Admission: free.

Recommended age: for all.

• Spitzer Foundation website

Mayor of Locarno since 1920, Giovan Battista Rusca became a deputy to the Ticino Gran Consiglio (legislative organ) in 1927 and was later elected three times to the Swiss National Council. Open to the ideological debates of his time and international political issues, he was a committed pro-European. Thanks to his friendship with prominent advocates of renewed cooperation among the great European powers - such as Aristide Briand - he succeeded in bringing the 1925 Peace Conference to Locarno, earning him the nickname Monsieur la Liberté. In the years that followed, his intellectual and political journey was marked by a clear commitment to anti-fascism and a strong affinity for European ideals.