Who moved that head?

This lunchtime I joined the administrative board of the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) and the European Administrative School (EAS) to say an early thank you and farewell to Vittorio Griffo, for long a Director General in the Council’s Secretariat General and somebody who oversaw the development of the idea and the reality of these two genuinely interinstitutional bodies. I write ‘early’ because Vittorio will not formally retire before 1 June and there will be other occasions. Still and all, he has a paternally affectionate view of the two bodies and in his speech he spoke with pride about their success. As to retirement, Vittorio spoke about his father, who was curator of the archeological museum in Agrigento (Sicily), and who could still get angry twenty years after his retirement because the window displays had been changed. ‘I will not make that mistake,’ averred Vittorio. And his mottos? Work seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously. Approach everything with good humour. And; you should always make the time for the rest of your life. Amen.