The distinction was handed over to Mikołajewski by Italian Ambassador Luca Franchetti Pardo.
A press release for the event says that “President Sergio Mattarella has honoured Mikołajewski for his efforts to strengthen the cultural bonds between Poland and Italy”.
The Pole was praised in particular for his significant contribution to the Year of Dante Alighieri and his translation of Divine Comedy.
Mikołajewski received the Dante Alighieri Medal from the Italian Centro Culturale Laurentum for his translation of Dante’s masterpiece.
In addition to Dante, Mikołajewski has also translated into Polish the works of many Italian poets of various periods, such as Francesco Petrarca, Michelangelo, Giacomo Leopardi, Eugenio Montale, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Mario Luzi, Cesare Pavese and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
He also has to his credit an anthology of Italian 20th-century poetry.
Mikołajewski has published six volumes of poetry and has been honored with several prestigious Polish literary awards.
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