GIOVANNI SCOLARO
(22/3/1963 - 16/2/1993)
Short Biography
Many of Giovanni's friends are not familiar with his story.
Partly because life's circumstances gathered us around Giovanni in short and fragmented periods of time; partly because none of us cared about what one used to be, we rather cared about what one wanted to be. Those who knew him as an adult will surely remember him as an extremely dynamic and determined person, always involved in numerous initiatives and always ready to engage in a new experience.
Each of us lived intense moments with Giovanni, that kind of moments that stay with you forever. And that's what we probably miss now even more than we expected.
Giovanni was a person that took life seriously but at the same time knew how to be happy and cheerful. But what all of us appreciated most was that he always was an "attentive" and sensitive friend... unfortunately we didn't always know how to thank him for this as much as he deserved.
GIOVANNI SCOLARO
Giovanni Scolaro was born in Verona on 22nd March 1963. He spent his peaceful childhood surrounded by his family and devoting all his energy to studying.
While attending middle school, Giovanni started to spend time with the teenagers group of his local church and started to engage in charitable activities.
He always seemed to already know what he wanted.
In the neighborhood of Verona, where Giovanni lived, everyone remembers his happiness, his loud laughter and his continuous whistling while he was walking with his faithful dog Teo.
In these years Giovanni became passionate of cycling, cross-country skiing, hiking and climbing.
After a serious examination of his own aspirations from the perspective of searching God's will, Giovanni decided to study medicine.
Once a student of medicine at the University of Verona, Giovanni felt the need to serve other students. He thus became a student representative.
At the same time Giovanni managed to find time to help his mother at the fruit and vegetable market: he used to wake up at dawn every day, but always arrived on time to class. "His women" - as he loved to call his grandmother, his aunt and his mother, were always present in his thoughts and in his heart.
He was always engaged in the activities of his church: he entertained the teenagers and the volunteering group of the young members and always attended the Holy Mass.
For some years he actively participated in the Focolare Movement through the Gen groups. The experience he lived at Mariapoli would become very important for him.
He entered with enthusiasm the alpinist group Giovane Montagna and took part in summer and winter activities like alpinism and skiing, as well as in social activities of the group.
A particular passion brought him to sing in the choir of Giovane Montagna.
The Giovane Montagna became his shelter, a place where he reinvigorated his spirit and from where he returned full of energy and of will to take on all life's challenges.
In his university years he met the movement Comunione e Liberazione (communion and liberation). This was a crucial moment in his life. Being an open person, he tried , he observed, he discovered and in the end the experience fascinated him so much that it became the basement on which he would build his life. He accepted the offer to go on pilgrimage to Czestochowa, in Poland. He returned tired but enthusiastic.
He collaborates to the success of Orao, a press review agency, which was founded to offer new job opportunities Together with his friends he promoted the teaching of the Social Doctrine of the Church in his parish church, in his neighborhood, in the sinister party secretaries, inviting people to reflect on the importance of the Christian commitment. But Giovanni was a pragmatic man and he wanted words to be followed by facts. Therefore he took on his role as an entertainer again and worked on creating a Cultural Center in Santa Lucia.
He graduated and started to work as a doctor.
Giovanni reached excellent results in his work. Meanwhile, he continued to study with the humility of a person who still has a lot to learn and discover.
After working as a researcher for the University he started an intense period of work as a professional doctor in association with SMAL (Servizi Medicina Ambiente e Lavoro) studio.
But Giovanni didn't want to stop at the master's degree program: he wanted to discover clinical perspectives of different therapeutic approaches, and together with his friends he founded the "Associazione Alexis Carrel per la Medicina Integrata" (Alexis Carrel Association for integrated medicine, today "Giovanni Scolaro Association for integrated medicine" leaded by Dr. Paolo Bellavite of the university of Verona).
He studied homeopathy with passion and applied it successfully.
It was a happy period of his professional and private life. He had a beautiful relationship and planned to start a family, dreaming to have "at least seven children" ...
On a beautiful night of 16th February 1993 Giovanni was returning from a visit to a factory. He lost his life in an accident that put an end to his earthly life and opened for him the door to meet God - meeting that his heart had always searched.