Ofelio Bertini while working with a smile. His workshop was not just a laboratory: it was a meeting point, a place where you would enter for a sole and leave after a chat about everything—politics, fields, weather, harvests, the town. In this, he was a true Montalcinellese. In the workshop, there were also his canaries, which brought cheerfulness while he worked.
Once upon a time, and it's not just a figure of speech, there was a world made of hands that knew how to create, of workshops that smelled of leather and real stories. In Montalcinello, that world had the face of Ofelio Bertini, the last cobbler of the village. But his story starts from afar.
All the way to the right Ottavio Bertini (father of Ofelio and grandfather of Paola) with other shoemakers, all proud shop owners, portrayed in their Montalcinello
Once upon a time there was Michele Squarci, a figure so important that the municipal library of Chiusdino is named after him. He was the father of Vera Ribelle (Alle barricate!!), who married Ottavio. From them was born Ofelio, who in turn would become the father of Paola Bertini, still in the village today, stoically committed to keeping open the last shop in Montalcinello, the Coop. And that's no small thing, in times when some people prefer to drive half an hour or even an hour, spending time and fuel, to go "save money" (what savings!) in the big distribution centers. And here comes back the lesson from our elders: it is absurd to try to save money on a shoe if after three months you have to buy another one.
They knew this well, because shoes were made to last. And in Montalcinello there were people who knew how to make them.
Ofelio worked hard, but not only in his workshop on Via Ugo Mancini n.4. He also had vineyards at Vignolo, to make his own wine, as it used to be done: work, land, hands, and seasons.
And excuse us if it seems like little to you, but before the Second World War there were about 30 shoemakers in the village. The art of shoemaking was one of the main activities of the town: a real economy, based on work, quality, and trust. Ottavio, Ofelio's father, had been a shoemaker since the 1920s. For years he and Ofelio traveled around the area, working at people's homes upon request, bringing the craft from house to house. Then, around the 1960s, Ofelio finally settled with his workshop in Montalcinello.
Ofelio started working as a child. And he never stopped: he worked until 2020, practically his whole life. He left us on June 13, 2021, at the age of 87.
And between a hammer blow and a taut string, they often talked about music too: Ofelio had played the trumpet since he was a child and music has always remained in his heart.
He got married in the little church of Montesiepi like many of us and worked as a shoemaker at a time when that trade could support a family in a dignified way. A hard job, yes, but respected, necessary, real.
In the village they called him “the Old Man,” an affectionate nickname like a good coat. Because certain people, even when they close the shutters, remain in everyone's memory.
With Ofelio, not only did a trade end: a chapter in the history of Montalcinello closed, when shoes were repaired, things were fixed, and shops brought people together.
And perhaps, every time we betray the last general store in the village, we lose a little piece of that world. The one where a shoemaker could be much more than a craftsman: he could be a point of reference, a voice, a presence, a piece of the village.
Ofelio at the Montalcinello wall during the snowfall of 1996. He was not just a craftsman. He was a man present in the life of the village: he was part of the Pro Loco council, a volunteer in the early years of the Public Assistance, one of the promoters of the unitary club and a municipal councilor in the early 1970s.
