Pietro Querini on his return trip to Venice also passed through Switzerland and more specifically Basel.
The Associazione Svizzera per i Rapporti Culturali ed Economici con l’Italia (ASRI) in Basel was founded on September 26, 1940, and officially began its activities on January 29, 1941. Its mission is to promote Italian culture in the Basel region and strengthen cultural and economic ties between Switzerland and Italy.
ASRI was established by a group of intellectuals from Basel with the aim of fostering a constructive dialogue with Italy during a particularly dark period in its history, at the top of the Fascist regime. During World War II, ASRI organized lectures by prominent Italian exiles living in Switzerland, including the renowned jurist Francesco Carnelutti and Luigi Einaudi, who would later become the President of the Italian Republic.
Initially, ASRI operated without a formal structure; it adopted its first official statute on June 12, 1967. The current statute was approved on October 18, 2007.
ASRI aims “to be nothing more than a Basel institution, witnessing the sympathy of Switzerland—particularly Basel—toward Italian culture” (Prof. Antonio Stäuble, Il Veltro, Rivista della Civiltà Italiana, 1967).
Over the years, ASRI has hosted a number of distinguished speakers, highlighting the high caliber of events it has organized. Some of these figures include Amintore Fanfani, Giacomo Devoto, Gianfranco Contini, Leonardo Sciascia, Giorgio Bassani, Adriano Olivetti, Enrico Mattei, Margherita Hack, Philippe Daverio, Alessandro Barbero, Beppe Severgnini, Rosi Braidotti, Ernesto Galli della Loggia, Dacia Maraini, and Lucio Caracciolo.
Since 2001, more than 100 events have been organized, primarily lectures, but also social dinners, Slow Food evenings celebrating Italian cuisine, and trips to places such as St. Gallen, Bellinzona, Sélestat, and Donaueschingen. In 2011, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, ASRI, in collaboration with other Italian associations in Basel, organized the “Piazza Italia” celebrations, which culminated in the arrival of a group of Bersaglieri soldiers. In 2012, together with the Institute of Italian Studies at the University of Basel, ASRI promoted a conference to defend the Italian language in Switzerland.
Today, ASRI organizes an average of 8-10 Italian-language conferences each year, attracting not only Italians living in Basel, but also a diverse public of anyone who loves the Italian language and culture