Brigadier General Massimo Panizzi, by decree of the President of the French Republic, has been given the Order of Knighthood of the "LÃ © gion d'Honneur".
The ceremony, at Palazzo Farnese, home of the Embassy of France, It was presided over by the Grand Chancellor of the Order, General of the Army Corps Jean-Louis Georgelin, in the presence of HE the Ambassador Catherine Colonna.
The Order, established 19 May 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, represents the highest honor awarded by the French republic and is awarded to both French and foreign citizens, for extraordinary merits. During the ceremony, together with General Panizzi, eight other personalities from the Italian socio-cultural, economic and political scene were decorated. General Panizzi was recognized, in addition to his personal commitment with the French armed forces in the international arena, on the occasion of the missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo, also the precious collaboration, the professionalism and determination shown in the realization of the project to establish the brigade command joint bi-national Italo-French, formed by the â € œTaurinenseâ € Alpine Brigade and the 27 ^ Brigade of mountain troops of the French Army.
"I feel really honoredâ €, commented gen. Panizzi at the end of the ceremony. â € œIt is a great satisfaction for which I warmly thank the French colleagues, with whom I have often had the privilege of working. A satisfaction that I wish to share with all the officers, non-commissioned officers and military personnel of the Army - magnificent professionals - who have worked together with me and who have contributed to this result. This important recognition is also theirsâ €.
Among the most important personalities to whom the honor has been awarded are:
Charles de Gaulle, 1945
Louis Lumière, 1939
Queen Elizabeth II of Edinburgh, 1948
Mohammed Zahir Shah, king of Afghanistan, 1949
Philip Duke of Edinburgh, 1957
Louis Pasteur Vallery-Radot, 1965
Juan Carlos, I kings of Spain, 1976
Amir Hoveida, Prime Minister of Iran, 1976
François Jacob Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1977
Jacob Kaplan, Chief Rabbi of France, 1975
Albert II of Monaco, 2006
Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the French republic, 2007
Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Italian republic, 2012
Romano Prodi, 2013
King William Alexander of the Netherlands, 2014
Il Brigadier General Massimo Panizzi, native of Marina di Carrara (MS), he joined the Military Academy in Modena in the 1981.
Officer of the Alpini, he commanded company-level units at the â € œLâ € ™ Aquilaâ € battalion in L'Aquila, the â € œMondovÂ⠀ battalion in Cuneo and the Alpine Military School of Aosta. Subsequently, he commanded the Alpini battalion â € œSusaâ € in Pinerolo, the 8 mountain regiment in Cividale del Friuli (Udine), with which he oversaw the constitution and validation of the multinational regiment of the Battle Group European based on the alpine brigade â € œJuliaâ €. In the two-year period 2013 - 2015 was commander of the â € œTaurinenseâ € Alpine Brigade, a position in which he completed the project to establish the joint bi-national Italo-French brigade command. He then held the positions of chief of staff, deputy commander for training and commander of the training department of the command for training and application school of the Army in Turin.
Already a spokesman and communications advisor to the president of NATO's military committee and strategic communications adviser for NATO's international military staff (IMS) in Brussels, he was head of the press office of the Ministry of Defense and attended, in Paris, the High Military Studies Center (CHEM) and theInstitute of High National Defense Studies (IHEDN), at theEcole Militaire in Paris. He is currently the commander of the northern military region in Turin.
He has participated in missions abroad in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996-â € ™ 97), in the NATO IFOR and SFOR contingents; in Kosovo (2001-2002), leading the Alpine battalion â € œSusaâ € and, later, as spokesman for KFOR, the NATO-led international military contingent in Kosovo.
In the 2004 he took part in the operation "Ancient Babylon" in Baghdad, Iraq, as military assistant of the deputy commander of the Multinational Army Corps (MNC-I) US-led.
General Panizzi has a degree in pedagogy and strategic sciences from the University of Turin, and in international and diplomatic relations at the University of Trieste. He received his master's degree in European studies at the â € œAlcide de Gasperiâ € Institute in Rome, the master's degree in strategic sciences at the University of Turin, the master's degree in international strategic and military studies at the University of Milan and the master in â € œPeace Keeping and Security Studiesâ € œ Rome â € œRome Treâ € University. He also attended the training course â € œThe Civilian Personnel of Peace-Keeping / Humanitarian Operations and Elections Monitoring Missionsâ € at the â € œS University Annaâ € ™ of Pisa. A journalist, he is registered in the national register of marketing and communication experts.
He is fluent in English and French. He is married to Ms. Elena and they have a son, Karl Ian.
Among others, he obtained the following honors:
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Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
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Silver Cross of Merit of the Army
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Bronze Cross of Merit of the Army
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Silver Cross of Long Command Merit
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Mauritian Medal
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Bronze Medal of the Italian Red Cross
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Bronze Medal of French Defense
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Army Medal of Merit of the United States of America
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Hungarian and Slovenian National Defense Medals
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Crosses and commemorative medals for peace support missions in the Balkans and Iraq
