Mauro Morandi, the Italian Robinson Crusoe, dies at the age of 85

Mauro Morandi, whose 32-year sojourn on an uninhabited Mediterranean island led to him becoming known as the Italian Robinson Crusoe, died on January 3 in Modena, Italy. He was 85 years old.

Antonio Rinaldes, who wrote A Book 2023 With Mr. Morandi about his life on the island.

Unlike Daniel Defoe’s hero, who is shipwrecked and desperately hopes for rescue, Mr. Morandi chooses a life of solitude.

He said he fell in love at first sight with Budelli, an undeveloped island off the northern tip of Sardinia. He said in interviews that he arrived in 1989 somewhat by chance. He left – against his will – in 2021, Writing on social media That he was tired of “fighting against those who want to keep me away.”

Mr. Morandi’s single choice to live in isolation has led to at least two books, At least one songShort documentaries and countless interviews. As the world turned inward during the coronavirus pandemic, journalists sought out Mr. Morandi Insights on isolation.

“I read a lot and think,” he told CNN in 2020. I think a lot of people are afraid to read because if they do, they start to meditate and overthink things, and that can be dangerous. If you start seeing things from a different perspective and are critical, you may end up seeing the miserable life you are living.

Budelli, one of the main islands that make up the Maddalena Archipelago, is a paradise occupying less than two-thirds of a square mile. It is famous for its pink sand beach surrounded by turquoise waters. The island has no running water, is not connected to an electrical grid and can only be reached by boat.

Mr. Morandi He lived In an abandoned World War II hut, he installs tarps in the open area in front of him. He created sculptures from branches, cooked them on a propane stove, read voraciously, and bought books and supplies on his trips to La Maddalena, the largest city in the archipelago. Visitors also brought him food and water. He used car batteries and solar energy to charge his mobile phone and tablet.

He said it was “a simple life made up of great and small pleasures.”

“The most important thing is that I have a calm relationship with time,” he added.

For years he was the appointed guardian of the island, appointed by the Swiss-Italian real estate company that owned it.

Its main mission was to protect the island’s natural environment from unruly tourists, who are only allowed on certain paths, as part of the Italian Environment Ministry’s efforts to protect the rare pink sand. He told people about the wonders of the island, and how fragments of coral and shells turned the sand pink. He collected trash from the beach, cleared the island’s walkways and did light maintenance.

Mr. Morandi initially chose to live as a hermit He said in an interview At the Genoa Maritime Museum, but he eventually welcomed selected people as part of his mission to make them “understand why we need to love nature.”

He said he did not miss human contact. “He didn’t like how consumerist and individualistic humanity had become in the 21st century, especially with regard to nature,” Mr. Rinaldes said. That is why Mr. Morandi was concerned with protecting Bodelli.

When he finally got online, he used social media to showcase the island’s untamed beauty.

In 2016, after a long legal battle over ownership of the island, it was handed over to the state and became part of the island. Maddalena Archipelago National Park. Mr. Morandi was asked to leave.

The park’s president, Giuseppe Bonanno, acknowledged Mr. Morandi’s unique status. “Morandi symbolizes a man fascinated by the elements, who decides to devote his life to contemplation and incubation,” he told reporters. But there were other issues, including whether Mr Morandi would be able to survive a medical emergency on his own, not to mention his hut’s failure to adhere to the rules.

He resisted. He campaigned against his eviction on social media. He gave interviews to the media. Online petition It collected nearly 75,000 signatures.

“We do not want Mauro to leave the island because we believe above all that if Budelli remains a wonder of nature it is also thanks to him,” the petition reads. “And secondly, because we are convinced that the park will benefit from his presence: Mauro has lived in Budelli for a quarter of a century, he knows every plant and every rock, every tree and every species of animal, and recognizes the colors and scents with the change of wind and seasons.

But after fighting the authorities for five years, Mr. Morandi relented. He was 82 years old and no longer in good health. “Part of his resignation was related to his fragility, but he was also disappointed that the authorities forced him to leave,” Mr. Rinaldes said.

Mr. Morandi left the island permanently in March 2021 and moved into a small apartment in La Maddalena. “I am leaving with the hope that Budili will be protected in the future, as I have been doing for 32 years.” He said.

Mauro Morandi was born on February 12, 1939 in Modena. His father, Mario Morandi, was a gymnast who won the national artistic gymnastics championship in 1936 and later became a school administrator. Mauro’s mother, Enia Camilini, worked for the tobacco company.

Mr. Morandi studied to become a physical education teacher and taught at a middle school in Modena during the 1970s, when he was able to take early retirement. He had three daughters during a marriage that ended in divorce.

They survive him, as do brother Renzo and six grandchildren.

In a Interview 2016 After reading Richard Bach’s best-seller “The Seagull Jonathan Livingstone” in 1970, Morandi told Turin daily La Stampa, he “got on the plane and discovered the sea.” He said he decided in 1989 that he was “fed up with society and was looking for a different life.” He bought a raft with some friends with the intention of sailing to Polynesia.

To raise money, they scouted charter cruise websites and came across Budelli. There they met Budelli’s caretaker, who had recently decided to leave. He offered them his job, and Mr. Morandi accepted. He got paid at first, but stayed on even after he was no longer getting paid; Then he lived on his teacher’s pension. On rare occasions he returned to Modena for a short vacation to visit his family.

At one point, he read a study by the University of Sassari showing that the flora and fauna of Budelli were similar to those on the Polynesian islands he hoped to one day reach. “It was as if Bodelli wanted me, and made sure that I got here, to the only beach in the entire Mediterranean, which is almost identical in composition to the islands I wanted to go to,” he said. In a 2016 interview With photographer Claudio Mozzetto.

After Mr. Morandi’s death, Margarita Guerra, one of his thousands of social media followers, wrote: “Safe travel. Finally, no one will be able to keep you away from your beloved island.”