The Virdimura International Award comes this year to Catania, in its VII edition. The Virdimura International Award is officially registered in 38 countries of the European Union. It bears the name of the first woman in history to achieve the title of doctor. The award is awarded by the MIUR recognition in Italy. Its promoter and creator is the teacher Cristina Come back, doctor, President of the AIN Onlus and Director of the Sicilian Center of the Sanitary Art Academy. The Prize is sponsored by the Italian Society of the History of Medicine and Medical Bioethics, promoted by the President of SISM prof. Adelfio Elio Cardinale, former member of the Superior Health Council.
Virdimura obtained on 7 November 1376 the degree enabling the exercise of the medical profession by a Royal Commission, which decreed its official status. The title is now kept in the State Archives of Palermo and contains a fundamental bioethical and meritocratic note. Virdimura took care of the poor and disabled and women from all walks of life with love and wisdom.
It therefore inspires a prestigious international award that is celebrated in recognition of those who spend their lives not only in medical science but also in humanitarian aid. In the year that put the world to the test in the pandemic, this value takes on a particular topicality.
The frame of the Excelsior-Mercure in Catania welcomes the award-winning. Together with her, a large military delegation of the Marines of the Nato Base of Sigonella, of military doctors, of Consuls of European and non-European countries, of Civil and Military Authorities, and also of those young future doctors who are the hope of a wise and humane Medicine. It is Dr. Corinne Devin, American, Commander in the NATO Base of Sigonella, medical officer of the Marines, the "Virdimura 2020".
Corinne Devin has faced humanitarian missions. She has distinguished herself in civil and social volunteering. She dedicated herself to young women in encouraging them to combine femininity with high-level commitment to the profession. In fact, Doctor Devin has achieved well-known awards in her life. She was crowned Miss United States in 2012, Miss Galaxy in 2014, Miss Earth in 2018 and Miss International 2020. This has not stopped her from being a simple and modest person. To continue his work as a doctor and service in humanitarian missions around the world.
The professor. Ignazio Vecchio, Professor of History of Medicine and Medical Bioethics at the University of Catania, recalled the previous editions of the Prize, held both in Italy and abroad, which saw the award of various representative figures at an international level. Among these: the Nigerian Sister Anne, who fought the prostitution of young women. The writer and vocal educator Miriam Arman Jaskierowicz, who has escaped the horrors of the concentration camps, has devoted herself to studies on autism. The Maltese psychiatrist Ethel Felice for the care of the disabled and disadvantaged children.
The prestigious recognition is not always given to a woman, but to those who have been inspired by the humanitarian principles of Virdimura. Examples are the Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See Zion Evrony and, in the Virdimura project, Prof. Riccardo Disegni. Virdimura represented a unique example in world history in a period in which Sicily was a melting pot of cultures operating in harmony with each other. The "cultural beacon" of the Virdimura International Prize is not only the promotion of "good medicine", bioethics, solidarity assistance in the fight against physical, mental and cultural disabilities. It is not only a good example of the role of women and women in civil society, schools, universities and all institutions. The Virdimura International is also one of the few recognized awards against all forms of discrimination, abuse and femicide.
It is no coincidence that the award-winning doctor Devin also dedicates it to S. Agata, the first historical woman martyred for not having succumbed to abuses. Professor Ignazio Vecchio, delegate, of the Italian Cultural Institute in Malta for the Society of the History of Medicine, illustrated how every year a careful choice is made of who embodies the ideals of the Award.
Since 2018, already awarded the Virdimura for its remarkable activity for sick and disabled children, SE Marie Loiuse Coleiro Preca, former President of the Republic of Malta, is a member of the Permanent Commission Virdimura Award. During the award ceremony of the 2020 Award, his congratulatory words to Corinne Devin were read: “We are delighted to welcome you to our Mediterranean region, where the extraordinary Virdimura was born and raised and has worked hard for humanity. We welcome you as our Virdimura winner to recognize and celebrate your work for peace. Our one human family needs people like you more and more. "
Prof. Cristina Tornali remembered her recently deceased mother. “This event, the first since the death of my mother, Gemma Rubino, is very moving. Having been a well-known fashion designer, she had also designed the face of the Virdimura. A sweet, loving female representation that can today represent the human face of Medicine, devoid of any political or religious connotation, but embracing the human being. It is not us as people but what we bring, and above all we give, within us to move forward ”.
The Virdimura International Award was officiated in all respects, despite the difficulties of the covid-19 pandemic. It represents a pride for Sicily, often not adequately appreciated for its human, historical and cultural riches. But also for all of Italy and for the entire Euro-Mediterranean area, an example and cradle of all civilizations.
