The Italian Connection

Dear Readers, In February we traditionally pause to celebrate lovers (Valentine’s Day) and Presidents. Once Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and George Washinton (Feb. 22) were honored individually; now they are collectively celebrated on Presidents’ Day (Feb. 16.). Our third President, …

Dear Readers, February dates with an Italian connection: Amerigo Vespucci (1452-1512) was born in February. He is the Florentine sailor, merchant and map maker who gave his name, Amerigo, to America. He entered the service of the Medici and lived …

Dear Readers, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, observed on January 19th this year, reminds me of some bits of Black History with an Italian connection:   American Republican politician, Edward Brooke III, died on January 3, 2015 at age 95, …

Dear Readers, A July assortment of Italian connections for you: Mauro Battocchi, Consul General of Italy for North Western U.S.A., and recent guest speaker at the Italian American Heritage Foundation in San Jose, California, encouraged the audience to learn more …

Dear Readers, March brings shamrocks and my annual “St. Patrick was Italian” column: A “St. Patrick was Italian” remark, tossed into your March conversations, can ignite boring talk into boiling talk if you have some conversational fodder handy, to buttress …

Dear Readers, An April assortment of Italian connections for you: Pietro Di Donato was born in West Hoboken, New Jersey on April 3, 1911, to Abruzzese emigrants and died at the age of 80. He took up writing during a …

Genoa, Italy, as we little Italo-American kids learned in school, was the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, the “man who discovered America”.   Most Italo-Americans who claim Genovese “roots” are not descendants of people born in the city of Genoa, but …

Dear Readers, More February finds with an Italian connection: Mario Cuomo, the former three-term Governor of New York, who left us last month on the first day of our New Year, personified the Italian American immigrants “American Dream” come true. …

Dear Readers, June jottings with an Italian connection: Italy’s “Festa Della Repubblica” (Italian Republic Day) celebrates the date, June 2, 1946, when Italians went to the polls to express their preference between a Republic and a Monarchy form of government. …

Dear Readers, President Sergio Mattarella, who assumed office in February as the 12th President of Italy, was born in Palermo (Sicily) some 73 years ago. Unlike some of Italy’s more flamboyant politicians, President Mattarella drives a Fiat Panda. He is …