Scene #6603.
ITALY. Caprara. Reggio Emilia. 2020. A Scarecrow in the yard of Riccardo Bertani 's home.
Born in Campegine in 1930 into a peasant family, Bertani abandoned his studies after obtaining an elementary school certificate. Son of the first post-war mayor of his native town, the communist Albino Bertani, he became passionate about Russian literature by reading the texts in the library of the local branch of the PCI, after which he learned the Russian language on his own. Over the years he has learned numerous languages, including all the Slavic languages, many Siberian languages, Etruscan, Basque, Eskimo and Mongolian, which he has studied in depth in publications and then compiled a vast bibliography.

Bertani's works include the first Rutulo-Italian dictionary (with an adjoining comparison between Rutulo - an oral language spoken by a small community of Dagestan - and Basque ) and many essays on the languages ​​of the Etruscans, Maya, the Indians of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Other publications instead concern research carried out by Bertani on the folklore of his homeland.

While continuing to work as a farmer, Bertani collaborates with various universities , with the UTET Encyclopedia , with the Royal Academy of Sweden and with various independent scholars.