27 years ago, Cosa Nostra carried out their most vile act. 400 kilogrammes of explosives were buried under a section of motorway near Capaci, Sicily, which was detonated the moment Judge Giovanni Falcone passed over it. At 17:56, when the primer was activated, a massive explosion killed Mr Falcone, his wife, Francesca Morvillo, and the members of their security detail: Vito Schifani, Rocco Dicillo and Antonio Montinaro. 

Why is Giovanni a hero? He gave his own life, the most precious gift one can give, so that the Mafia wouldn’t become a normality. He fought every day so that institutions could remain untouched from the contagion of the Mafia virus. He did this while knowing his life would be put at risk, as his existence became increasingly troublesome for many. Nevertheless, he never held back and continued along his path with his head held high. 

Giovanni is a hero because with his actions, he embodied something that unites millions of Italians:  respect for people, for the institutions, for our home, for the idea of state, of legality and the affirmation of the founding values of our Constitution: equality, solidarity, respect for others and the dignity of the individual. 

Giovanni isn’t a timeless hero but rather a human one, with the same qualities and flaws that characterise all human beings. He loved eating strawberry cake during spring when the sun would come out, and he smiled, always. He smiled as he knew that he had reawakened consciences from a long torpor, and from the falsities that the Mafia had instilled in the minds of many good people. As the philosopher Diogenes wondered for Sinope with a lantern lit in broad daylight, looking for an honest person among the people, so did Giovanni try to agitate the inner voices in fighting the Mafia. 

Thanks to him, hundreds of Mafiosi have been delivered to justice, making Italy and Sicily better places. Today, we must not recall the memory of Giovanni, and all those that have fallen at the hands of the Mafia, merely as meaningless rituals. Today, we must remember Giovanni as the example of how we must never let our guard down. Today, the Mafia is still as relevant as it has ever been. We must pass on the dedication shown to us by Giovanni: “Men pass, ideas remain. Their moral tensions live on and will continue walking on other men's legs.”