Brescia, story of Cesare Trebeschi, former mayor of the city

Brescia, Cesare Trebeschi (21 August 1925 – 10 April 2020) was mayor of Brescia from 28 July 1975 to 1980, then from 20 October 1980 to May 1985 with a gap from 27 July to 7 November 1983 marked by his resignation following a political crisis in the Lodge.
Son of the lawyer Andrea (exponent of the Catholic movement and the anti-fascist resistance in Brescia, who died in the Gusen concentration camp in Austria on 24 January 1945) and of Vittoria De Toni, long-time director of the magazine "Madre", Cesare Trebeschi graduated in Law at the Catholic University of Milano in 1949. Married to Sofia Rovetta, he had six children: Andrea, Vittorio, Antonio, Lodovica, Franco and Giovanni.
Lawyer, jurist and legal historian, he has achieved national professional fame as an expert in agricultural law: many of his contributions on the subject have been published in the "Rivista di Diritto Agrario", in the "Rivista di economica Agraria" and then "Il Montanaro d'Italia ” and the “Reports of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei”.
Faithful to the family lesson, he did not shy away from civil, political and cultural commitment during and immediately after the war, starting with his activity as co-founder of the magazine "La Fionda" in 1946. Despite never having had a membership card no party has been a public administrator for long. In particular he held the position of mayor of the Municipality of Cellatica from 1951 to 1960.
Elected as an independent on the lists of the Christian Democrats, he was provincial councilor for Agriculture from 1961 to 1964, then provincial councilor from 1964 to 1970. As councilor he promoted, in particular, the creation of the Cata - Agricultural technical assistance centres, which played a decisive role in the modernization of Brescia agriculture, especially in the mountain areas.
From 1971 to 1974 he was president of the administrative commission of the municipalized services company, in the period which saw, among other things, the launch of district heating (understood as a large urban infrastructure aimed at rationalizing energy consumption, reducing emissions, to improve the efficiency of the home heating system) and the exit of the Company's activity from municipal boundaries to take on the management of services in some municipalities in the hinterland and in the province (West Bresciano and Valle Sabbia). Both of these initiatives were indispensable premises for the subsequent development known by the company of the Municipality of Brescia.
Trebeschi was mayor of Brescia from 1975 to 1985, succeeding Bruno Boni who had led the municipal administration from 1948 to 1975. In the first five years Trebeschi led the councils of the "broad agreements" with the PCI, a season which saw the launch of the new master plan, the birth of San Polo, the approval of the Santa Giulia museum project, the birth of the Districts. The second five-year period saw the birth of the University of Brescia.
A full member of the University of Sciences, Letters and Arts since 10 September 1979, he presided over the University from 1994 to 2000 and was subsequently a member of the Presidential Council of the same cultural institution. He was president of the Provincial Committee of the National Association of Families Fallen and Missing in War.
His contributions and personal memories appear in books that recall figures of Brescia Catholicism, from Don Giacomo Vender to Mons. Luigi Daffini, from Paul VI to Msgr. Carlo Manziana to Lodovico Montini.
A meditation on the administrative experience, intertwined with a reflection on the Acts of the Apostles, is contained in the volume Matins of a Mayor (1985). The role of the Christian in politics and in the public life of the city is addressed in the book Apologia del mugugno (Brescia 1988). Another book by him, The First Meeting (2003), refers to a plot interwoven with family events and civil values. Finally, another text of his, History and legend of the good thief, patron of lawyers (2004), reprinted in 2008 with a preface by the judge of the Constitutional Court Giuseppe Frigo, refers to professional experience and an evangelical meditation.