"Enrico Tosti-Croce, 77, grew up hearing the story of how his father, a member of the Italian Navy, visited the Acropolis in Greece in the 1930s and brought back a piece of the Parthenon he found lying on the ground. The unique marble piece, carved with lotus flowers, accompanied the chief engineer of the submarine Generale Liuzzi on his various voyages and was part of the belongings he packed when he emigrated to Chile in the early 1950s."
"Earlier this year, Tosti-Croce, an electrical engineer, heard on the radio that Greece was demanding the stolen sculptures of the Parthenon from the United Kingdom. At his home in Villarrica, in the south of Chile, he thought: Wow, I have a little piece of the Parthenon. I think it's time to give it back, he told EL PAIS by phone."
"When Tosti-Croce's parents died a few months apart in 1994, Enrico and his two brothers divided up their belongings. The engineer kept, among other things, the carved stone. He placed it on a coat rack at the entrance to his house, which has a small stand. So, when visitors entered the home, he would take the opportunity to tell them about the relic's special value. Some believed me, others didn't, he says with a laugh."
Enrico Tosti-Croce, 77, inherited a small marble fragment carved with lotus flowers that his father brought from the Acropolis in the 1930s. The piece accompanied the chief engineer of submarine Generale Liuzzi and traveled to Chile when the family emigrated in the early 1950s. The fragment sat in the family's home for decades as an ornament. After hearing that Greece was seeking return of Parthenon sculptures, Tosti-Croce contacted the Greek Embassy with measurements and photos (8.2 by 11.4 cm, 1.2 kg). The embassy investigated the claim and acted as liaison to verify and repatriate the relic.
Read at english.elpais.com
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