"Thank you for teaching us that education is an act of love and freedom." These are the words of "his" students, posted on the Facebook profile of the De Castro Institute in Oristano, which he has directed since 2015.
In these hours, so many are remembering with love, affection, and great respect Pino Tilocca, who died last night at the age of 65, just hours after the demonstration in the square for Gaza with his children. For him, a representative of Libera and a courageous voice against injustice, always ready to fight against the mafia, an entire city and beyond mourns.
"Today, Sardinia wakes up poorer," said Regional President Alessandra Todde . "I met him in person a year ago, at a meeting with the students at his school. I was struck by the passion with which he spoke to young people, the firmness with which he defended the rights of the most vulnerable. When a warrior in the battle for justice passes away, we are poorer. When a man who transformed pain into collective commitment passes away, we are poorer. When a point of reference for an entire community passes away, we are all poorer. Sardinia today loses a clear voice, a guide, a friend. It is our task," Todde concluded, "to harvest the seeds he planted, nurture them, and help them grow like thousand-year-old wild olive trees. To transform his legacy into values, fulfillment, and strength. In a word he often used: Hope."
"We cherish the memory of his professionalism, his dedication, his humanity, and his profound concern for young people," the University of Oristano said. "There remains a great void for Sardinia, for the schools and the Oristano region," Sinistra Futura members wrote on social media. "Pino was not just a colleague but an example for everyone, teaching us the importance of consistently supporting one's ideas and fighting for them, personally, without compromise," said Giuseppe Scarpa, headmaster of the Simaxis, Villaurbana, and Solarussa comprehensive school. " A man who authentically embodied the value of culture and civic engagement," commented Laura Celletti, municipal councilor of Cabras. Writer Matteo Porru, a close friend of Pino Tilocca, said: "He was a headmaster because school is a bastion of civilization."
His Facebook page, which Pino used every day to share his life and stories, in no uncertain terms, is flooded with countless messages and touching farewells. He is mourned by colleagues, friends from his time in the field, and students. But also by those who never had the pleasure of knowing him in person.
