At only 21 years of age, construction engineering student Sergio Giudici has fulfilled the dreams of many young Italians forced to emigrate: that of studying and advancing themselves in their new home.
Named for the British mining magnate and South African politician Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes Scholarship is awarded annually to the best student in every Commonwealth country.
The scholarship includes accommodation, a return flight to England and a two-year course at Oxford University, where Mr Giudici will be able to complete his degree.
Giudici arrived in Australia in 1948 from his birthplace of Sernio, in Lombardy, when he was 10 years old and didn’t know one word of English.
From primary school to his current university studies, he has always excelled academically and in sport.
In fact, the selection criteria for the Rhodes Scholarship take into account not only an admirable scholastic report.
In 1955, when he was still a student at a Technical High School, he won a government scholarship for excelling in his science exams, which allowed him to enrol in the engineering faculty at the University of Tasmania.
The young Italian has also distinguished himself for his efforts on the sporting field, representing his school and winning various trophies in athletics and hockey.
Giudici is an expert skier and passionate about a typical Australian sport: bushwalking.
The affable and dynamic Giudici will continue his studies at the University of Tasmania and will stay close to his proud parents, who live in Wayatinah, in the Tasmanian highlands, until October 1960, when he will leave for Oxford.
