TEHRAN — The Revolutionary with a Smile, a collection of accounts of the life and times of martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has been translated into Italian by Nicola Di Cola and published in Italy, bringing a portrait of the late leader to Italian readers in the aftermath of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The book, introduced by Muhammad Reza Sabouri, Iran’s ambassador to Italy, was jointly published by Green Palm and Mario Pascale and became available in bookstores and through online retailers on September 1. 
The Italian edition was translated by Di Cola with the support of the Cultural Affairs Office of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Italy.
The publication is presented as a record of an extraordinary period in Iran’s recent history, as well as a collection of messages of sympathy and solidarity from Italian figures following the events of February 28, 2026.
History, the book’s presentation says, is not written solely on the pages of calendars. It is shaped at decisive moments when will, faith and human dignity confront oppression, aggression and injustice, and when suffering and sacrifice give rise to events that remain in collective memory.
The February 28 U.S. and Israeli military assault on the Islamic Republic of Iran resulted in the martyrdom of the Leader, senior military commanders and a large number of civilians, including 168 students at Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab. The episode, according to the book, left a profound wound on the conscience of humanity and raised questions about commitment to justice, independence, freedom and human dignity.
In the days that followed, a book of condolences opened by the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Italy became a gathering point for expressions of sympathy and solidarity. Political, economic, cultural, academic and social figures, as well as Italian citizens from different backgrounds, contributed messages expressing their support for the Iranian people.
The collection places particular emphasis on the language of those messages, describing them not simply as expressions of grief but as reflections of culture, ethics and human dignity. Their words, it says, demonstrated that human conscience can cross geographical, linguistic and national boundaries, bringing people together around the defense of human dignity.