Tommaso Todesca works in the financial sector in Los Angeles, is passionate about literature and Dante Alighieri, will shortly hold online courses on the Divine Comedy for theInternational Academy of Italian Culture. Recently, he published a graphic novel entitled "Science and Faith". His versatility intrigued me and I asked him to tell us a little about him.
I am one of the many Italians who, despite their love for Italy, have decided to leave and look for work abroad. After graduating in law, in 2001 I moved to London and found a job at General Electric. To this day, I consider this to be one of the best decisions of my life. My motivation is not only the fact that in Italy the legal profession is more than saturated, with a lawyer registered for every 250 Italians, but also a desire to test myself in a totally different environment, and to use my knowledge of the English language. In 2004 I obtained an international MBA, and in 2005 I started my career in the banking sector. In 2010, the bank I work for suggested that I move to California, where I still live today, after 12 years.
We said that you recently published a graphic novel entitled "Science and Faith". How did the idea for this book come about and how did it develop?
Professors Alfio Briguglia and Giuseppe Savagnone, childhood friends, published the book "Science and Faith: the patience of dialogue" in 2010. I read it in 2015 and it struck me very much above all for the clarity of presentation, the breadth of views, and the attention that the authors gave to the history of this debate, certainly not new but always current. I asked myself: “Why are so many young people today not exposed to this kind of fundamental information? How did a poisonous thought emerge that believing in God is associated with not being "smart" and "cool" enough, as taught by Hollywood and a large part of modern culture? "
The answer is complex, but I believe it has to do withexaggerated importance that our society attaches to science, great winner of the last few centuries and often seen as the only source of truth. Why do so many non-believers today think that their objections to the faith are historical novelties, while they had already been advanced - and overcome - by Dante, St. Thomas, and many others before them?
In short, having reached the end of the book, I wanted to find a way to amplify the voices of Alfio and Giuseppe and their attentive and patient approach to such a delicate subject. And so the professors got my call from Los Angeles: a passionate reader of theirs who had been very captivated by their work and asked for permission to turn it into a graphic novel. Why - I asked them - not to use the power of sequential art to communicate the same concepts under a different guise and, perhaps, in this way also reach those readers who think twice before starting to read a book on philosophy and history?
The fact that Alfio and Giuseppe not only accepted the idea immediately, but even offered me their help during this project, certainly demonstrates their open-mindedness and their youthful enthusiasm. The artist who was responsible for translating my summary sketches into the splendid plates of this book is Alexandra Fastovets, which has collaborated with Dark Horse and other prestigious publishing houses. I have always been struck by his essential but precise lines and his ability to synthesize the fundamental traits of expressions and faces. Finally, our work was lucky enough to be noticed by Nicola Pesce Editore (NPE), who with his great experience in publishing comic books has identified in "Science and Faith" a title that naturally fits into their formidable catalog.
Do you have other projects ready to be launched?
Yes, together with two dear friends, Giulio Srubeck-Tomassy and Alessandro Franquelli, in the last four years I have written a new original 265 page graphic novel. The title is' GENO, the genre is science fiction, and will be published by the British publishing house Markosia in about three months. The story of GENU is based on a very plausible scientific hypothesis regarding the origins of Homo Sapiens. Giulio is a scientist and it is above all his contribution that gives credibility to our ideas. It is a story that has an entertainment value but which, we hope, will also make us reflect on our present.
