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Los Angeles, goodbye to Lorenzo Soria, the president of the Golden Globes

Lorenzo Soria, president for the third time of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and long-time Hollywood collaborator of Espresso and La Stampa, passed away this morning at his home in Los Angeles after a years-long battle against cancer. He was 68 years old. Born on November 27, 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his Jewish parents took refuge to escape Nazi persecution, the son of a teacher who was widowed at a very young age, Soria grew up in Milan where he studied and where he began his work as a journalist for L’Espresso.

After a long stay in India, where he became a follower of Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh (Osho), he arrived in Los Angeles in 1982 where a few years later, in 1989, he became a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, soon establishing himself on its Management Committee. . He became President, a two-year term, in 2003-2005 and then again in 2015-2017, before being re-elected in 2019, a position in which he would remain until June 2021.

Permanent presence of the association, he had contributed a lot to its revaluation and prestige in the Hollywood industry. Left-wing man, deeply intellectual and cultured, with an intelligent and optimistic joke to the end, even in the difficult years of his illness, Soria had dedicated his life to journalism, in the early years dealing with economics, technology and politics and, once transferred in Los Angeles, of cinema, for which he had an undoubted love. He had interviewed every Hollywood celebrity, writing about movies and changes in the film and television industry.

He had been directly involved in the making of the Golden Globes along with Dick Clark Production which was the production studio for NBC. During his mandates as President Soria was the face of the association, introducing the Golden Globes and the announcements of the candidacies, solidifying the role of the association in the world of charity: also thanks to his efforts the association has come to donate over 4 millions of dollars a year in donations to universities, cinematographic cultural associations, associations for the defense of political journalists and immigrants and refugees.

Also under his presidency, agreements have been sealed with Toronto and Venice film festivals to support international filmmakers during study periods in Los Angeles. Not only that, but right at the last Golden Globes, last January, before the shut down due to the pandemic, the show made history by becoming the first of the major Hollywood industry events to serve a completely vegan dinner during the show.

Married to a Hungarian, Lilla, Soria had a child with his first wife, Max. He leaves behind his mother and older sister Donatella, both living in Milan.

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