A Message from Wanda Gawronska for May 18, 2024

Dear Friends of Pier Giorgio,

In the "Calendar of a Lifetime", composed with loving care by my mother Luciana Frassati to retrace the salient features of the life of her brother Pier Giorgio, on 18 May 1924 we read

Pian della Mussa (m. 1750), 18 May 1924
Founding of the ” Società dei Tipi Loschi “

"At the Pian della Mussa […] together with his friend Marco, Pier Giorgio founded the “Società dei Tipi Loschi” (The Shady Characters) and gives Marco the nickname "Perrault" because of his resemblance to the character of the same name in the play 'The Count of Bréchard' - then being presented at the theater Alfieri in Turin; for himself, he had chosen the name "Robespierre," emphasizing his historical qualification as 'the incorruptible'. Even the need for a qualitative selection [for membership in the Tipi Loschi] had been resolved in the usual playful style: 'Few but good like macaroni'.

Beneath the jovial appearance, that society is based on faith and prayer. In a letter to Laura Hidalgo dated 11 August 1924 from Forte dei Marmi, Robespierre [Pier Giorgio] extolled the significance of the splendidly conceived association: 'Then when I think about our Society destined to miserably break up like everything on this earth, I am overwhelmed by a sense of regret; farewell beautiful trips to the mountains, what will Robespierre [Pier Giorgio] do without Perrault [Marco]? The only thing that remains is a bond that we hope, with the Grace of God, will bind all the Tipi Loschi in this life and in the next: this sacred bond is Faith, the only powerful bond, the only sure rock without which nothing can be undertaken. And let us hope that this Faith that we have received in Holy Baptism, and that has made us companions on beautiful mountain trips will accompany us until the last day of our earthly journey and will be the connection through prayer to spiritually bond all the Tipi Loschi scattered all over the earth.”

And to all the “Tipi Loschi” [“Shady Characters”] scattered all over the earth we turn today, about a month from 18 May 2024, to strengthen the bonds that unite us in the joyful celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Society, which, although 'destined to be broken', like the Eucharistic bread does not cease to bear fruit in the passage of time and in every corner of the earth.


At Pian della Mussa, Pier Giorgio started a group that crossed centuries and geographical boundaries and, after a hundred years, continues to keep alive that same joy of belonging to Christ. Joyful strength. Which can be read in the eyes of the young people of that time - who look at us from the rare black and white printed photos - as in those of today - which we see in the countless images that have arrived via social media and contacts with the numerous Associations that have chosen Pier Giorgio as a sure guide for their journey.

This anniversary is an important and bright step towards 4 July 2025, when we will celebrate 100 years of what Pier Giorgio called "the best day of my life". An unmissable opportunity, therefore, to start preparing for that event by reflecting, praying, and living as Tipi Loschi, with deep levity, the gift of friendship.

To this end we send you a text taken from one of the notebooks of the "Cordata dell'amicizia" [“Friendship Consortium”], founded by Pietro Pulici. It is a reflection published in 1999, which helps to discover the deep meaning of Christian friendship through the words written by Pier Giorgio to Marco Beltramo in April 1925. We also send you the text of the founding Statute of the Society of the “Tipi Loschi” [“Shady Characters”], to relive together the fresh cheerfulness of those days and the pictures that portray the participants in the trip to Pian della Mussa, so that each one may reproduce in his or her own reality that same endless joy that Pier Giorgio never ceases to give us from Paradise.

On Saturday, May 18, 2024, starting at 10:30 a.m. (in the next few days you will be able to find further details on the initiative at this link.) The Tipi Loschi (that is, all friends of Pier Giorgio) who have the means are invited to reach Balme (TO) and from there the Pian della Mussa for a day of friendship, prayer and sharing, promoted by the Pier Giorgio Frassati Association of Turin. But we hope that in every corner of the world there will be a group of friends of Pier Giorgio/Tipi Loschi who want to cheerfully celebrate together, this day of light and joy.

While awaiting your response to our proposal, we cannot fail to send you endless cannon blasts![1]

Wanda Gawronska
Associazione Pier Giorgio Frassati – Roma
Piazza S. Maria in Trastevere 9,
00153 Roma
[email protected]

[1] “Cannon blasts” was a friendly expression used among members of the Tipi Loschi.