President, Atomium Culture

Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini was born in London and grew up in Italy, where he completed his classical studies. He graduated in History at the University of Bologna.

After pursuing journalism within the field of foreign correspondence initiated at the age of eighteen,which brought him to Kosovo and Albania (1999), Israel and Palestine during the second Intifada (2002), Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran (2003), he dedicated himself to historical research, with special attention given to the European issues.

Scholar of European integration, his latest research on the subject is on the Treaty Establishinga Constitution for Europe where the accounts of the private meetings with the President of the European Convention Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and with the Italian Vice President Giuliano Amato are included (2003-2004); a comparative study on the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe and the Constitution of the United States of America (2004);  the reconstruction policy of Republican Italy,with special reference to the political -and European Policy- thinking of Alcide De Gasperi, where his interviews with the Italian Senator Giulio Andreotti are included (2005).

During his research on European integration, Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini analyzed the problem related to the lack of a European identity and the shifting paradigms of society creating the necessity for a transition to a knowledge society.

From April 2004 to December 2005 he initiated the study of a broad project contemplating an independent structure, supranational and non-profit, aimed at creating a joint platform for the core pillars of the knowledge society: Atomium Culture.

In 2006 he promoted and coordinated a start-up that saw the engagement of some of the mostauthoritative universities, media and businesses in Europe and created the first European platform tobring together these different actors.

In November 2009, during the first conference held at the European Parliament, Atomium Culture was launched together with the Honorary President V. Giscard d’Estaing and the leaders of the institutions engaged.

Baracchi Bonvicini and Giscard d’Estaing were awarded, in 2011, the medal “Plus Ratio QuamVis” from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow for “their contribution to the European academic community by founding Atomium Culture”.

More recent publications include the appeal “For a European Consciousness, For a More Competitive Europe” signed together with V. Giscard d’Estaing and the former Prime Minister of Spain Felipe González Márquez, as new Chairman of the Advisory Board of Atomium Culture, in September2012 during the negotiations regarding the EU budget for 2014-2020. The appeal was published by numerous European newspapers including Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, El País, Il Sole 24 Ore and The Irish Times.

Currently Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini is President of Atomium Culture and member of its Executive Board.