Venice. I mean, just the word summons a very
specific set of images. Oh, absolutely. It's
the romantic Venice, the postcard version that
everyone knows. Right. You're probably picturing
gondolas, tourists crowding St. Mark's Square.
Maybe you're sipping an incredibly expensive
espresso while, you know, worrying about the
high tides soaking your shoes. The classic Venetian
experience. Exactly. But today we are going to
completely shatter that postcard. We're looking
at a side of Venice that feels less like a vacation
and, well, more like a tactical briefing. It
really is a totally different side of the city.
I want you to imagine a high school experience
where, instead of catching a yellow school bus,
you're taking a Vaporetto to a fortified island.
And instead of typical gym class, you're out
rowing on the lagoon. And instead of stressing
about what to wear or how to style your hair,
you are in a crisp... spotless naval uniform.
It is a completely different universe. We're
talking about the Francesca Morasini Naval Military
School. And honestly, Just calling it a high
school feels it feels like a massive understatement.
It really does. It's an institution in every
sense of the word. And that is exactly what we're
deep diving into today. This isn't just about
a cool building in a historic city. It is about
a radical educational experiment. A very successful
one, too. Right. It blends standard academics
with military rigor and this deep, almost spiritual
connection to the sea. We've got the history,
the curriculum, and a list of alumni that is
frankly kind of baffling in its variety. It is.
And I think the key insight here for you, the
listener, is to look at this not just as a school,
but as a leadership factory. A leadership factory.
I like that. Because whether these kids end up
as admirals or CEOs or even fashion moguls, the
Morasini method is doing something very specific
to their wiring during those formative teenage
years. So let's orient ourselves first. If I'm
looking at a map of Venice right now, where exactly
are we? Because Venice is a maze, and I assume
this isn't right next to the Doge's Palace. No,
no. You have to look away from the chaos of the
center. You need to look toward the island of
Santelana. Santelana. Right, it's the southeastern
tail of the main island group. Historically,
it's a bit greener, a bit quieter, and much more
spacious than the rest of Venice. And spacious
is definitely the key word here. The sources
mention the campus is 47 ,000 square meters.
Which is huge. In Venice, where land is basically
gold dust and apartments are the size of shoeboxes,
that footprint is just... Massive. It's a statement
of power, really. You have this massive enclave
surrounded by the lagoon. It separates the students
physically and psychologically for the rest of
the world. Kind of creating its own ecosystem.
Exactly. It's a city within a city designed solely
for the purpose of molding these 15 to 18 year
olds. It's an isolated environment, which is
critical for the kind of training they do. Right,
because you can't really instill military discipline
if tourists are wandering through your drill
practice eating gelato. No, you definitely cannot.
And let's clarify the demographic here for a
second. This covers the final three years of
high school, right? Correct. In the Italian educational
system, that's the Liceo phase. So the student
body is composed of boys and girls between the
ages of 15 and 18. But I assume you don't just
sign up on a website, pack your bags, and show
up. No, not at all. It is highly selective. The
documents phrase it as positively pass an admission
process. Positively pass. That sounds intense.
It is. This is the first filter. You have to
actually want to be there, and you have to prove
you can handle the academic and physical pressure
before you even step foot on the island. It's
highly competitive. So once you get through that
gauntlet and you get in, you are walking under
the banner of Francesco Morisini. Now, my Venetian
history is a little rusty. Who is the guy on
the sign? Why is he the patron saint of this
place? This is a great question because names
really matter in military tradition. They aren't
just labels. They're aspirations. OK. Francesco
Morisini wasn't just a politician. He was a doge,
which was the leader of the Venetian Republic.
But before that, and perhaps more importantly
for the school, he was a warrior. He was a very
famous admiral in the 17th century. Is he the
guy who fought the Ottomans? Relentlessly. He
was actually known as the Peloponnesiaco for
his conquests in the Peloponnese. Wow. Yeah,
he was a man of action, a sea captain who eventually
became the head of state. So by naming the school
after him, they aren't just honoring some bureaucrat.
They're telling these kids, you are the heirs.
to a maritime empire. You're following in the
footsteps of a warrior prince. That sets a pretty
high bar for a Tuesday morning math class. Just
here's your calculus test. And by the way, remember,
you are the heir to a maritime empire. It definitely
creates a certain atmosphere on campus. Yeah.
And that brings us to the curriculum itself,
which is a fascinating hybrid. Yeah. Let's get
into that. Because it's not just marching around
in uniform. No. Academics are rigorous. You have
civil teachers handling the standard Italian
high school subjects. So that's Latin, math,
history, literature. Because they still have
to pass the national exams just like everyone
else. Exactly. They have to be ready for university.
But then you have naval officers fully integrated
into the faculty. So you are learning Dante's
Inferno in one hour. And then what? Navigation?
Structure, discipline, and yes, serious maritime
skills. The mission statement in the sources
is actually quite poetic. It says the goal is
to promote interest and love for life at sea.
Which sounds nice on taper. Right. But in practice,
that means getting wet. It means physical exertion
in the elements. The source material specifically
lists sailing, rowing, and swimming. And these
aren't just weekend hobbies here. At my high
school, if you were on the rowing team, that
was kind of a niche early morning thing. Sure.
Here, it sounds mandatory. It's vocational. In
a normal school, rowing is a club you join for
fun. Here, rowing and sailing are the medium
through which you learn teamwork and command.
You can't fake it on a boat. If you don't pull
your weight, the boat literally doesn't move.
If you don't tie the knot correctly, the sail
comes loose. It provides immediate, undeniable
feedback on your performance. It's high stakes.
Nature doesn't care about your excuses. Precisely.
And the ultimate feedback mechanism for all this
seems to be the summer term. Oh yes, I saw the
mention of the Amerigo Vespucci in our sources
and I actually got a little jealous. It's really
the crown jewel of the Morasini experience. For
listeners who haven't seen a picture of it, describe
this ship because it is stunning. The Amerigo
Vespucci is a massive tall ship. We're talking
full, traditional rigging, three masts, acres
of canvas sails. It looks like it sailed straight
out of the 19th century. Exactly. It is the training
vessel for the Italian Navy, and is widely considered
one of the most beautiful ships in the world.
And these teenagers are crewing it. Like, they
aren't just passengers taking photos. Oh, no.
They are the crew. Yeah. And let's be very clear.
This is not a luxury cruise. These education
campaigns, as the Navy calls them, are grueling.
I can imagine. You are sleeping in hammocks?
You are scrubbing wooden decks. You are climbing
the ribbing to set sails while the ship is pitching
and rolling in the open sea. It is physically
exhausting work. It sounds like a modern -day
initiation rite. That is exactly what it functions
as. It strips away all the normal comforts of
modern teenage life. The smartphones, the privacy,
the downtime, all gone. Replaced by the watch
system. The watch system and the ocean. It creates
a shared hardship. And sociologically speaking,
we know that shared hardship is the absolute
fastest way to bond a group of people together.
Which perfectly explains the alumni network,
which we will definitely get to. But before we
look at where these students go after they graduate...
I want to look back at where this place came
from. It's quite a story. Yeah, because the history
of the school itself is a bit of a roller coaster.
It really mirrors the turbulent history of Italy
in the 20th century. It is a perfect mirror.
If you go back to the original founding, we are
looking at the year 1937. 1937 in Italy. That
is a very loaded date. Very loaded. The world
was obviously a very different place. Mussolini
was in power. Now the school was originally established
on that exact same island, but it wasn't the
Murasini School yet. Right. It was called the
Collegio Navale della Giovento Italiana del Litorio.
The Italian Lictor Youth Naval College. That
is very specific political branding. Yes. The
sources are clear on this. It was established
during the fascist era. And our goal here is
just to present the historical record exactly
as the sources lay it out. The explicit purpose
at that time was to prepare young men for the
Regia Marina. the Royal Navy. Basically to serve
the regime's expansionist goals of that era.
Effectively, yes. It was a feeder school for
the war effort leading into the 1940s. And then
obviously World War II happens and things go
very poorly for Italy. Right. And as a result,
the school closes in 1945 following the defeat.
And this is the interesting part. It stays closed.
Really? For how long? For over a decade. The
campus on Sandalena just sits there, becomes
this empty shell, a ghost school, essentially.
That is a long hiatus. I just imagine these impressive
buildings sitting there gathering dust and sea
salt. So what finally brings it back to life?
The Cold War, essentially, and the broader rebuilding
of the Italian state. In 1961, the boarding school
finally reopens. OK, 1961. And this is when they
rebrand. The fascist era name is gone, obviously.
In comes Francesco Morasini. That makes total
sense. They reach way back into the glorious
history of the Venetian Republic to find a symbol
of maritime pride that wasn't tainted by 20th
century politics. Exactly. It's a smart pivot.
You use the deep centuries old history to bypass
the recent problematic history. Saying we aren't
about the 1940s, we're about the 1600s. Right.
But even when it reopened in 1961, it was technically
just a naval boarding school. It didn't get its
current heavy hitter status until much later.
1998 is the key date here. 1998, what happened
then? That is when it was granted formal military
status. Okay, but what does that actually change
practically? Is it just a paperwork thing, like
a new letterhead? Oh, it's much more than that.
It changes the funding structure, the formal
chain of command, and the overall prestige. It
officially became the Skrull and Navale military.
So it leveled up. Exactly. It's effectively on
par with the formal military academy now. It
signals that the Navy is fully invested in this
institution, not just as a high school, but as
a strategic asset for the country. And then,
arguably the biggest cultural shift of all comes
about a decade later. We touched on this briefly
in the intro. The student body itself changes.
Yes. 2009. That is when the doors finally opened
to women. It took until 2009. That feels really
late, doesn't it? It does feel late, but you
have to remember it aligns with the broader integration
of women into the Italian Armed Forces, which
was a gradual process. But once it happened at
Morasini. It fundamentally changed the dynamic.
It's now a fully co -ed military environment.
I can only imagine the dynamic of a co -ed boarding
school where everyone is in crisp uniforms doing
inspections and training on tall ships. Honestly,
it sounds like a pitch for a TV show. Well, you
aren't the first person to think that. It actually
was a TV show. Wait, really? Like a reality show?
MTV's Real World Venice? No, not quite reality
trash. It was a high quality documentary series.
Director Stefano Aleva made an 11 episode series
specifically documenting life at the school.
That is fascinating. It really captured the public's
imagination. It showed the rigorous inspections,
the academic stress, the sailing, the camaraderie,
kind of turned the school into a pop culture
icon in Italy. Which is pretty rare. It breaks
that wall of secrecy. Usually military academies
are these closed off black boxes you never see
inside. It's true. But Morasini seems to be a
magnet for attention in general. I was looking
at the list of visitors in our source material,
and it's not just parents coming for weekend
visits. It reads more like a diplomatic itinerary.
Exactly. When you have foreign dignitaries visiting
Venice, you take them to Morasini. The big one
in the historical records is Jimmy Carter. The
U .S. president? Yes, he visited in 1980. Wow.
Just imagine the security logistics for a sitting
U .S. president on a small island in the Venetian
Lagoon. It must have been a nightmare for the
Secret Service. And more recently, for the 60th
anniversary of the school's reopening, President
Mattarella, the Italian president, was there
to celebrate. So the state clearly treats this
place as a symbol of national excellence. It
is a showpiece. But that brings me to the million
dollar question. Does it work? We have these
kids for three years. We put them through the
grinder. We put them on the tall ship. We make
them wear the uniform and do the drills. Do they
all become admirals? You would assume so. Right.
You would assume it's just a straight pipeline
directly to the bridge of a destroyer. But the
data. The actual alumni list tells a much more
interesting story. Yeah, I was looking at this
list in the notes, and eclectic is really the
only word for it. It is all over the place. It's
wildly diverse. Yeah. Now, yes, you do have the
military brass that is the core function of the
school, and it works. People like Admiral Luigi
Panelli Mantelli. Who was he? He became the chief
of defense, literally the top soldier in all
of Italy. OK, that's as high as it goes. And
Gianpaolo Di Paola, who served as the minister
of defense. and Admiral Eduardo Serra. So the
system works perfectly for the military track.
If you want to be a top general or admiral, this
is clearly a good place to start. Clearly. But
then you pivot and look at the business world.
You have Manfredi Lefebvre du Videau. He's a
billionaire. He built silver sea cruises. OK,
but to be fair, that is still boats. He just
swapped the Gray Naval hull for a luxury liner.
He basically monetized the sea. That's a fair
point. He stuck to the water. But then, look
at Stefan Siegel. Right. The sources say he's
in fashion technology. Exactly. Fashion technology.
That feels like the complete opposite of a rigid
military hierarchy. From naval drills to high
fashion. It really does. Or consider Alberto
Gallo, who is a major fund manager. These are
people operating at the highest levels of high
finance and high fashion. And we can't forget
the actual royalty on the list. Prince of Medio.
Duke of Aosta. True. A very prominent figure.
But the finance and fashion examples are honestly
the most telling to me. It suggests that the
soft skills of military training, which let's
be honest are actually quite hard skills, are
universal. You mean things like just showing
up on time? Much deeper than that. I mean resilience.
Think about it. If you have navigated a massive
tall ship through a storm in the middle of the
night at age 16 or dealt with a screaming officer
during a room inspection at 7 a .m. because your
bed wasn't made with mathematical precision.
A bad day in the stock market probably doesn't
phase you. Exactly. A supply chain issue in the
fashion industry doesn't rattle you as much.
It is stress inoculation. You are building a
mental callous against pressure at a very young
age. Precisely. They are learning decision -making
under intense pressure. They are learning that
the functioning of the team is always more important
than the comfort of the individual. And that
translates to a corporate boardroom, just as
well as a battlefield. It's a really interesting
counter -argument to the modern educational trend
of hyper -specialization. How do you mean? Well,
we tend to tell kids today, you know, code early
or focus entirely on STEM or get that one specific
corporate internship before you're 18. Right.
This school says no. Learn to row a boat in sync
with 10 other people. Learn to make your bed
perfectly. Learn to take orders. And if you do
that, you will be ready for literally anything.
It is the classical idea of character formation
over pure skill acquisition. The specific technical
skills, like coding or corporate accounting,
you can learn those later. But the character,
the grit that has to be forged. And Morissini
is a forge. It really puts the whole concept
of school spirit in a different light. It's not
about football games and pep rallies in a gymnasium.
It's about surviving a really intense experience
together. And carrying that badge of honor for
the rest of your life. Being the Morissiniano
is a lifelong identity. It opens doors. Before
we wrap up this deep dive, I just want to touch
on the name one last time. We mentioned Morasini,
the man earlier, but the sources point out that
the name itself has become a sort of talisman
for the Italian Navy. It has. It keeps reappearing
throughout their naval history, almost like a
lucky charm or a standard of excellence. Like
what? Well, there was an ironclad warship in
the 1880s part of the Ruggeria De Loria class
that was named Francesco Morasini. Right. And
then later, a massive battleship in the Francesco
Carraccio class was also named Francesco Morisini.
It's like they keep trying to reincarnate his
spirit in steel. It's about power projection.
It's a reminder that Venice, and by extension,
Italy, was once the absolute master of the Mediterranean.
The school on Santolina is just the human version
of that battleship. That's a great way to put
it. It is projecting that same strength. but
through shaping people rather than casting cannons.
So here's the ultimate takeaway for you the listener.
We have a 47 ,000 square meter island in Venice
that is effectively a time capsule of discipline
and it is producing billionaires, fashion executives,
and admirals in equal measure. It's a stark reminder
that environment dictates performance. You put
kids in a suburban mall you get one result. You
put them on a historic island with a strict naval
code of conduct, you get something very, very
different. It definitely makes me look back at
my high school yearbook with a little bit of
regret. No tall ships for me. Just a lot of cafeteria
pizza and gym class dodgeball. Well, we can't
all be Venetian admirals. Very true. But I want
to leave the listener with a thought based on
what we've discussed today. We live in a world
that is becoming increasingly digital, increasingly
remote, and let's face it, increasingly soft
in terms of physical requirements for education.
Absolutely. We sit at desks, we look at screens.
Does the diverse success of the Morrisini alumni
suggest that we are missing something fundamental?
That's the big question. Are we losing the art
of building resilient leaders because we have
simply stopped asking young people to do hard
physical things together? It really is the question
of our age. Can you build true grit via a Zoom
classroom? I think the Morissini method would
say no. You build it on the water, in the wind,
and in the relentless discipline of the everyday.
A fascinating look at a unique corner of the
world. Thank you for helping us navigate the
waters of the Morissini School today. It was
my pleasure. And to our listeners, thanks for
diving deep with us. We will see you on the next
one.