The Mayor of the city of Florence (Firenze), Dario Nardella, has handed over the keys to the city to the Argentine Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian, president of Corporación América and the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
The tribute is motivated by “the commitment and creativity that have inspired his business activity and by his commendable contribution, as president of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, to promoting the values of solidarity, peace and civic courage.”
The keys given to Eurnekián are a reproduction of those that opened the old gates of the city, the cradle of the Italian Renaissance. This type of ceremonies constitute a traditional form of homage by a municipality to distinguished visitors.
In the tribute, Mayor Nardella emphasized that the first reason for which the keys to the city were granted to Eduardo Eurnekián was his commitment with the preservation of the memory of Holocaust victims. “His Argentine and Armenian descent and the fact that he created the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (…) is a very important symbol for us.”
“Eurnekian is also a living testimony of the relations between Italy and Argentina, and in particular with Florence, he has invested a lot in our city, but also in all of Italy, through the airports, and he is one of the Argentine businessmen more active in Europe,” the Mayor added.
“The recognition that is given to me is of great importance, which commits me to continue working, not only on the ties that unite the investment world, but also on those that bring our countries closer to each other,” said Eduardo Eurenkián.
“Receiving the keys to the city is an event of greater scope, because businessmen open doors, integrate markets, connect people, cities and nations,” he added.
Eurnekián emphasized the influence of Italian culture on his homeland, defining Argentina as “the only Italian country in Latin America and the most Italian country in the world, outside of Italy.”
He also evoked his family origins: “Personally, I come from an Armenian family that knew how to transmit to me the values we share.”
