L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers,  Octo- ber will always be Italian H eritage Month in the heart of Italo-Americans and although Columbus and his day may be politically incorrect, "Indigenous People's Day" is a bit over-the-top correct in my book. Nonetheless we live and let live and hope others will extend to us the s ame courtesy… Back in 1992, all this ruckus and rewriting of history started as Americans celebrated the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus voyage to America and the discovery of the "New World." In some California school districts, politicians began renaming the day "Heritage Day" or "Indigenous People's Day." Also in 1992 Signora M.C., a long-time reader in Salt Lake City, Utah, wrote that thanks to the efforts of Calabrian-born (Grimaldi, Cosenza) Fortunato Anselmo, Italian Consul for Utah and Wyoming, the land- locked state of Utah was one of the first states to declare a state holiday in honor of Columbus in 1919. He then spent another 30 years lobbying to make it a National holiday too. Here is a little more info: "The Italian Olympic Team of 1933 slept here. So did Italian heavyweight champion Primo Carnera and Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the man who later became Pope Pius XII. But the major reason the venerable man- sion at 164 So. 900 East in Salt Lake City is listed on the Nation- al Register of Historic Sites is its connection to an even more famous Italian Christopher Columbus. Fortunato Anselmo used the home as his base for a 30 years quest to persuade Con- gress to create a national holiday honoring Columbus. In 1971, Congress eventually concurred, establishing October 12 as Columbus Day." Mr Anselmo had lobbied the Utah Legislature to make Columbus Day a state holiday in 1919. Through Mr. Anselmo's efforts, Utah became one of the first states to declare a state holi- day in honor of Columbus. Mr. Ansemo's efforts did not stop there. He turned his atten- tion to getting a national holi- day... and for the next 30 years, this was diligently pursued. Mr. Anselmo was a unique figure in Salt Lake City and Utah in the early part of the century. He came here in 1913 to engage in the wholesale food-importing business, after emigrating from his native Italy to Colorado in 1901. In 1914 he was the founder, publisher and editor of La Gazzetta Italiana, an Italian language newspaper. He sold the paper in 1915 when appointed Italian vice consul for Utah and Wyoming. Mr. Anselmo's friendship with several Utah governors, senators and other state and national figures was a key to his long campaign to enshrine Columbus Day for all Americans. *** AMERICA  WE DISCOVERED IT! WE NAMED IT! WE BUILT IT! CRISTOFORO COLOM- BO (1451-1506) Born in Genova, Colombo made four voyages under the Spanish flag. The first, after 71 days at sea, was the famous, landing at San Salvador. He was an explorer, discoverer colonizer and a founder of nations. He gave to mankind a new world named after someone else. Brought rich- es to others and received iron chains. But he, Colombo, shall always be remembered as the "Father" of the New World. AMERIGO VESPUCCI (1454-1512) Born in Florence, Vespucci moved to Spain at the age of 31. According to his writings, he made 3 expeditions for Spain. In 1497 he sighted South America. In  1501 and 1502 he explored the coast of Venezuela. under the flag of Portugal, 1503-1504, he explored the southern coast of Brazil. A letter published in 1503, titles MUNDUS NOVA, established his reputation and his anglicized name, AMERICA, was given to the new continent America. *** Multicultural Columbus ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, had captains who were Black, Jewish and Irish, respec- tively. I cannot verify the captains rank for all but my research does indicate that Spanish, Jews, Blacks and Irish-men were defi- nitely on board.The Black Pedro Alonso Nino, was the pilot on the Nina. Pedro Alonso Nino sailed with Columbus on his historic voyage to the New World. Columbus' three ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, each carried a pilot, and Pedro Alonso Nino was the pilot on the Nina. There was little food and drinking water on the ship. Nino and the other sailors suffered many hardships in crossing the ocean. After many months, they finally saw land birds flying over their ships, and branches and leaves floating in the water, and they knew that this meant land was near. Finally, on Friday, October 12, 1492 land was sight- ed. Nino came ashore with Columbus. They fell to their knees to thank God for bringing them safety across the ocean. Columbus and his party stayed in the New World for several weeks and during their stay Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, was destroyed by a storm. It was Nino's Ship, the "Nina," that carried Columbus and the news of the New World back to Spain. I'm not sure if Pedro Alonso Nino was the cap- tain, but I do know that Colum- bus was very grateful to Nino for piloting the Nina into the port of Palos, Spain in the early morning before the Pinta. So Columbus was accorded a real hero's wel- come and, as Columbus and his men landed, the people thronged about them and a procession was formed to go to the church to give thanks to God. *** In the evening the Pinta, com- manded by Martin Pinzon, arrived. When he saw that the Nina, piloted by Pedro Alonso Nino, had carried Christopher Columbus back to a hero's wel- come earlier in the day and had reached home before him, his dismay was acute, for he had attempted to snatch the victory from Columbus by writing to Ferdinando and Isabella from Bayonne. But thanks to God and the skilled pilot of the Nina, Pedro Alonso Nino, who got admiral Columbus back to Spain first, he was able to enjoy his entitled hero's welcome. Pinta Captain Pinzon, also a fine navi- gator but short-sighted politician, was discredited, forbidden to appear in court and lived unhap- pily ever after. As for Jews - Again I can't vouch for ranks, but my research shows that several Spanish Jews took part in the expedition. Among them were: Luis De Tor- res employed as an interpreter, Maestre Bernal, the apothecary of ship druggist, and Luis Marco, the ship's surgeon.

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