SUMMARY: Adriano Sofri remembers Maria Teresa Di Lascia in her political commitment, but also as a writer. Her latest work is "a novel that is long and self-assured, that is not afraid to talk about things that need to be talked about, about glory and the fall, about love among cousins, of sorcery and lies. "

(Cuore, Sept. 17, 1994)

Maria Teresa Di Lascia has died. She was forty years old. She always found in the Radical Party a place where she could dedicate herself to good causes, both big and small. With her comrade and partner Sergio D'elia, she was the most admirable promoter of the League against capital punishment. Friends of Cuore may have met her at parties organized by the weekly for this cause.

I can't count the people all over the world who have been helped by Maria Teresa when they needed it. She helped them quickly, with passion and in her gruff way. In Sarayevo, there are kids going around all proud of their colorful Swatches, and they don't know that Maria Teresa gave them to them. It wasn't long ago that she took sick, and it was only very recently that she found out she had cancer. A few days ago she told me:"I do everything very well". Maria Teresa knew and was known by many people. She had been a member of the Parliament. But she also had a precious secret that she carefully hid. She was a writer, a great writer. One of her novels was supposed to come out in a few months. It was to be the first time she achieved recognition outside a small circle of friends. It is a long and self-assured novel, that is not afraid to talk about things that need to be addressed . It speaks of glory and the fall, of love between cousins, of sorcery and lies. Maria Teresa was dominated by a my

sterious sense of intuition, the secret side of her effectiveness and timeliness for good deeds, both political and private ones. Her novel is very beautiful, and is written with that strenght of feeling, words and style that distinguishes writers who are not seeking recognition in other people's eyes, or from public opinion. Maria Teresa 'sspirit as a narrator was guided only by her own conscience. On the other hand, as happens with many other great writers, the only thing Maria Teresa expected from her writing was for other people to know her better and love her. She didn't have the time [to see the results]. These few lines are a temporary tribute to express my personal gratitude and give recognition to a very special person.