Farewell to Filippo Gambari: the director of Rome's Museum of Civilizations passes away for Covid

Archaeologist Filippo Maria Gambari, the current director of the Museum of Civilizations in Rome, passed away this afternoon in Rome, Rome, Italy, spreading the news through his website. He was 66 and had been hospitalized at Rome’s Spallanzani Hospital since October due to complications from Covid-19. Born in 1954 in Milan, in 1977 he had graduated in Classical Literature from the University of Milan with a thesis in Etruscology, then specializing with honors in archaeology at the same university, and had since then embarked on an important career as an archaeologist carried out in the ranks of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, including with relevant positions of responsibility.

In 1979 he had joined the Superintendency of Piedmont as an archaeologist and had climbed the ranks of the ministry until becoming, in 2009, archaeological superintendent of Liguria. He had then been superintendent for the archaeological heritage of Emilia (from 2010 to 2014) and then of Lombardy (from 2014 to 2016). His assignments included directing the Regional Secretariat of Sardenga to arrive at the direction of the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum from September 2016 to April 2017 and then finally landing at the Museum of Civilizations in Rome, of which he was acting director.

Gambari also taught at the university for a long time: from 1986 to 2003 he was external lecturer in Etruscology at the University of Turin, and also in Turin, until 2009, he taught Prehistory and Protohistory. From 2010 to 2011 he taught Prehistory and Protohistory at the University of Genoa, and the same subjects he then taught from 2011 to 2012 in Bologna. He has published more than two hundred contributions including essays in scientific journals, monographs, exhibition catalogs, and conference proceedings, devoting himself mainly to topics such as the influence of the Etruscans in northern Italy, rock art, and Cisalpine Celtic archaeology.

The news of Gambari’s passing created great dismay in the world of culture because he was a well-known and respected professional. Among the most heartfelt memories was that of Valentino Nizzo, director of the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia: “He was a teacher and a friend. I had the joy and pleasure of learning so much from him. Immense culture, irony, passion are just some of his gifts. With him and thanks to his trust was born the extraordinary experience of the excavation of the Terramara of Pilastri in 2013. He was my superintendent during such a difficult time as the 2012 earthquake. Firm, attentive, sensitive, but above all human.” “I have no words to express,” comments Francesco Sirano, current director of the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, “I was struck too deeply by this further happening. Filippo had initiated the Park’s first administrative steps, and being able to count on his incredible experience and deep knowledge in both archaeology and cultural heritage management instilled enthusiasm and confidence in everyone.”

The Museum for Civilizations mourns the “grave loss to the Museum of Civilizations and its staff for the extreme commitment that the Director put into building a ’new’ museum and pursuing ambitious cultural and social sharing projects.” Cultural Heritage Minister Dario Franceschini remembers him this way, “I embrace the family of Filippo Maria Gambari the director of the Museum of Civilizations in Rome who left us this afternoon. A fine scholar and an excellent director of one of the ministry’s autonomous museums. A long career, rigorous and full of assignments of great responsibility. We will miss her.”

Farewell to Filippo Gambari: the director of Rome's Museum of Civilizations passes away for Covid

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