A statue to celebrate Ali Piccinin, the child kidnapped by pirates and who became Pasha of Algiers

A statue to celebrate Alì Piccinin, also known as Ali Bitchin (c. 1560 - Algiers, 1645), the child kidnapped by Ottoman privateers and who later became in turn a privateer, a great admiral of the Ottoman fleet and then perhaps, for a few months towards the end of his life, Pasha of Algiers. According to the research of writer Riccardo Nicolai, Ali Piccinin (whose Christian name is not known: probable, however, that his last name was Puccini, Piccini or Piccinino) was a native of Massa, and to be precise of the hamlet of Mirteto: kidnapped by pirates on the Apuan coast at a very young age, he was led in chains to Algeria, where he was a slave for some time but, following his enfranchisement, having already converted to Islam, he became one of the leading figures of his time, so much so that he amassed great wealth and even financed the construction of a mosque in Algiers, which still exists today and bears his name (the Ali Bitchin Mosque). Its history was reconstructed by Nicolai following the discovery of a correspondence between Ali Piccinin himself and Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina, marquis and later prince of Massa.

It is precisely Ali Bitchin’s mosque, located in the Casbah of Algiers, that is at the center of the sculpture project dedicated to the admiral: an initiative that unites the cities of Massa and Algiers. In the Apuan city, until June 30, the Hall of Mirrors in the Ducal Palace is hosting an exhibition of the sketches for the large marble sculpture that will be made in the coming weeks to be donated to the city of Algiers: here, it will be installed in the Palace of the Rais, now home to a museum center called “Bastion 23.” The 45 sketches were made by the students of the “Felice Palma” High School of Art, under the supervision of Professor Paolo Della Pina, and a jury decided on the winning design from which the marble statue will be made (the initiative was launched by Nicolai himself): the winner was Giulia Vatteroni, a final-year student at the Massese high school.

Supporting the operation is the non-profit Marble Foundation. “The project of the statue for Ali Piccinin,” said Bernarda Franchi, president of the Foundation, “represents an example of the enormous potential that would have the realization in our territory of an educational system related to natural stone, a system that, starting from high school, projects itself up to university teachings.”“The pandemic,” says Professor Della Pina, on the other hand, “created obstacles for us, between quarantines and red zones, but in spite of this the result was excellent, and we are proud of the support we received from the Marble Foundation, which believed in this project.” The presentation of the sketches was held in the presence of the Algerian ambassador to Italy, Ahmed Boutache, Massa Mayor Francesco Persiani, Massa Carrara Province President Gianni Lorenzetti, regional councilor Giacomo Bugliani, Marble Foundation Onlus president Bernarda Franchi, Confartigianato Massa Carrara secretary general Gabriele Mascardi, Territorial School Office representative Enzo Genovese, and writer Riccardo Nicolai.

Pictured: the sketch from which the statue will be made.

A statue to celebrate Ali Piccinin, the child kidnapped by pirates and who became Pasha of Algiers

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