Italy's Robinson Crusoe is dead Mauro Morandi lived on the island with the pink beach for 32 years
Mauro Morandi, who lived as a hermit on the island of Budelli and protected it from sand thieves, has died at the age of 85. He spent his last years on another island in Sardinia.
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- Mauro Morandi lived as a hermit on the island of Budelli for 32 years. He protected his paradise from sand robbers. On January 3, the hermit passed away at the age of 85.
- The former teacher spent his last years on the island of La Maddalena after he had to leave Budelli in 2021 for health and political reasons.
- The island of Budelli, famous for its pink sand and known from the film "The Red Desert", remains a symbol of Morandi's commitment to environmental protection.
Mauro Morandi, a former teacher from Modena, found his home on the small island of Budelli off the coast of Sardinia over three decades ago. A kind of modern-day Robinson Crusoe, he fell in love with the island's untouched nature and unique pink sand.
Morandi dedicated his life to protecting this special environment from sand robbers. "I have found my own Polynesia here," he once said in an interview with the newspaper "L'Unione Sarda".
In 2021, Morandi had to leave the island for health reasons and under pressure from the Italian government. He spent his last years on the nearby island of La Maddalena. He has now passed away at the age of 85, but not on his beloved island of Budelli.
The island of Budelli became world-famous through film
The island of Budelli, part of the Maddalena archipelago, became famous when director Michelangelo Antonioni shot scenes for his film "The Red Desert" there in 1964. In the 1980s, the island attracted more and more tourists, who took the pink sand with them as a souvenir.
The characteristic pink sand of Budelli is produced by the microorganism Miniacin miniaceae, which lives on Posidonia oceanica. These organisms, together with tiny pieces of coral, shells and granite, give the beach its special color.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.
