Folco Quilici

Writer, naturalist and popularizer, one of the most influential thinkers in the world (as recognized by Forbes in 2006) on the subject of environment and culture, Folco Quilici is remembered for his many award-winning films dedicated to the relationship between man and sea. In 1971 one of his documentaries in the series Italy seen from the sky "Tuscany" earned him an Oscar nomination. The Davide di Donatello was awarded with "Oceano".

The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella said of him on the occasion of his recent death, which took place in Orvieto in February 2018:

"a figure of modern intellectual who has been able to give images the profound meaning of the narration of our planet. The dual dimension that he has been able to offer in his works, with a dry and rich documentation of anthropological flavour and with that linked, instead, to the life of animals, has offered us interpretations of the territories, starting from the marine one, of unsurpassed originality, opening ourselves to worlds and civilizations hitherto only fantasized by the general public. The contribution made represented a decisive step in the growth of an environmental education and culture".

Ficullese by choice and adoption, he himself had chosen the splendid countryside of the village as his home, first as a second home in the eighties, and then moved here completely in the following years. Many friends, intellectuals and scholars, who over the years have come to visit him in his country house in Ficulle, to whom he never disdained to proudly show the town, its historical and landscape beauties and the ancient artisan knowledge.

Over the years he had forged a deep relationship with the country, which never lacked his support on the occasion of social and cultural events aimed at safeguarding the environment and discovering other cultures and civilizations. A person of great culture, charm and experience, who lovingly shared with passion and irony also with the community of Ficulle.

The public park of Ficulle is named after him.