Alfredo Battistini
Alfredo Battistini (born August 8, 1953 in Uznach , Switzerland ; † May 17, 2008 in St. Gallenkappel , Switzerland) was an Italian-Swiss sculptor , draftsman and athlete .
Life
Alfredo Battistini was born on August 8, 1953 as the son of Alearda di Traglia and Alfredo Battistini in Uznach, Switzerland. His parents came from San Piero in Bagno and Sarsina in Romagna, Italy. After training as a bricklayer, he moved to Paris in 1976, where he worked as an assistant to the fashion photographer Lothar Schmid. Back in Switzerland, he trained as a stonemason in his home town of Rapperswil SG . He also completed training as a sports masseur to get closer to the human anatomy. Later he worked and learned as the first and only student in the studio of the sculptor Hans Jörg Limbach.
In 1979 he applied for a place at the Art Academy in Paris and was accepted. On May 27, 1979 Battistini was involved in an accident on the way back from a visit to Italy as a passenger and has been paraplegic ever since. Alfredo Battistini also devoted himself to art and sport in a wheelchair.
In bench press he won five world championship, two European championship and 25 Swiss championship titles as well as three bronze medals at the Summer Paralympics in Seoul in 1988 and in Barcelona in 1992 . He won gold and silver at the World Championships in England and Sydney . 225 kilograms are his top performance and Battistini outperformed even the best non-disabled people in Switzerland. Before his life in a wheelchair, he was also a boxer and was Swiss light heavyweight champion in 1976. On December 26, 1971, he boxed in the preliminary fight of Muhammad Ali and Jürgen Blin in the Hallenstadion in Zurich.
Towards his fellow men he distinguished himself as a philanthropist with a sense of justice for the weaker and disadvantaged in society. In 2004 Alfredo Battistini received the “Paraplegic of the Year” award from the Paraplegic Center Switzerland for his services.
His passion was art and sculpture. After a one-year study trip through Chile with visits to the arts and crafts school in Santiago de Chile following his stay in hospital, he began to work on his first works. With the support of Guido A. Zäch he was able to present his first own exhibition in Bottmingen near Basel in 1983 . His sculptures (bronze and marble) bear witness to his teachers and role models; Hans Jörg Limbach, Auguste Rodin and in particular Michelangelo Buonarroti .
Publicly known works are, for example, the monument in honor of the Knie Circus at the entrance to the city of Rapperswil or the trophy from the Stuttgart Open, which Boris Becker , Stefan Edberg , Thomas Muster and Petr Korda received. Alfredo Battistini died on May 17, 2008 in his place of residence and work in St. Gallenkappel at the age of 54.
museum
The sculpture La Creazione , a homage to the depiction of the creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, has had a permanent place in the “Museo Michelangiolesco” next to Michelangelo's birthplace in Caprese Michelangelo , Toscana , since spring 2009 . Michelangelo Buonarroti was born there on March 6, 1475.
Sporting successes
Boxing
- 1971
- Preliminary fight in the framework program in the fight "Muhammad Ali against Jürgen Blin"
- 1975
- Swiss light heavyweight champion
- 1976
- Swiss light heavyweight champion
Pentathlon
- 1981
- Swiss champion in pentathlon
Weightlifting, wheelchair sports
- 1982
- World and Swiss champions, light heavyweight lifting
- 9th Swiss wheelchair championship Biel
- 1983
- Vice world champion and Swiss champion, light heavyweight weightlifting
- 10th Swiss wheelchair championship Thun
- 1984
- Swiss light heavyweight champion
- 11th Swiss wheelchair championship, Zurich
- VII. World Wheelchair Games, Paralympics Stoke Mandeville UK, bronze medal, category +95 kg, 195 kg
- 1st National Wheelchair Sports Meeting, Grosshöchstetten, 1 × gold
- 1985
- World champion, European champion and Swiss champion, heavyweight weightlifting (Switzerland's first push in a wheelchair, who has reached 200 kg and more)
- VIII. World Wheelchair Games, Paralympics Stoke Mandeville UK, 1 × gold
- Swiss champion among the non-disabled
- 1986
- World champion, European champion and Swiss champion, heavyweight weightlifting - Kriens, Thun
- Swiss champion among the non-disabled
- 1987
- World and Swiss champions, heavyweight lifting
- Swiss champion among the non-disabled
- International Stoke Mandeville Games, 1 × gold
- 14th Swiss Wheelchair Championship Freiburg
- Championat Swiss, Dev. Couche Seniors 2eme
- 1988
- World champion, heavyweight lifting
- Bronze medal at the Paralympics in Seoul, Power Lifting, category +95 kg, 187.5 kg
- 1992
- Swiss champions, bench press, 200, 220 kg
- 19th Swiss Wheelchair Championships in Zug
- Bronze medal at the Paralympics Barcelona, Power Lifting, category +100 kg, 190 kg
- World champion and world record 17th National Wheelchair Games Adelaide, 220 kg
- 1993
- Gold medal at the World Wheel Power Games Stoke Mandeville, Weight Lifting, Power Lifting and Combination
- Swiss bench press champion 220 kg
- ISMWSF Games Gold
- 1994
- Swiss champion and Swiss record (12 times improved) in bench press, Swiss champion in bench press for the non-disabled
- 1995
- 2nd Swiss Armwrestling Cup St. Gallen, Swiss bench press record
- 1996
- Class and overall victory, Swiss record, Swiss bench press championships in Bremgarten, 220 kg
- 1998
- Vice champion Swiss bench press championship, 210 kg, Bremgarten
- Swiss championship in wheelchair sports, Rapperswil
- 2000
- Swiss bench press champion, category +100 kg, 210 kg, Bremgarten
Key works sculptures
- 1982
- Laura
- inspiration
- 1985
- Overdose of humanity
- 1992
- C'est la vie
- Male torso
- 1993
- Monument Circus Knie - Weissclown
- "Stuttgart Open" trophy
- 1994
- Spiral to success
- Tomb of Daniela Jutzeler
- Tomb for an unnamed acquaintance
- 1995
- La Creazione
- 1997
- La Luce (small without base)
- Warmth of life
- Semper Donne
- Mondo Elefanti - in memorian Rolf Knie
- Champ - trophy for Andi Hug
- 2002
- La Luce (large with base)
- Gil, dedication to Gil Rossellini
- 2003
- Angel of love
- 2006
- Fist / strength
- Politicians are murderers
- 2007
- Il tempo, marble
- Embers, carrara marble
- undated
- security
- Insieme
- Per semper (bronze and marble)
- Semper Donne, marble and bronze
Movies
- Kill Gil Volume 2, by and with Gil Rossellini , 2006.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Battistini, Alfredo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian-Swiss sculptor, draftsman and sportsman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 8, 1953 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Uznach , Switzerland |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 17, 2008 |
| Place of death | St. Gallenkappel , Switzerland |