L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, March was named for the Roman God of war. This was the time of year to resume military campaigns that had been interrupted by winter. *** Ohio became the United States' seventeenth state on March 1, 1803. President Thomas Jefferson was pres- ident at that time. Its capi- tal is Columbus. *** T h e S t a r S p a n g l e d Banner officially became o u r n a t i o n a l a n t h e m o n m a r c h 3 , 1 9 3 1 . I t a l i a n Americans stood proudly to sing it, especially in 1936 w h i l e w a t c h i n g J o e D i M a g g i o , n e w l y h i r e d rookie, playing for the New Y o r k Y a n k e e s a t t h e i r namesake stadium. *** Antonio Vivaldi, com- poser, musician and teacher was born March 4, 1678 in Venice, however, his mater- n a l " r o o t s " a r e i n t h e Basilicata Regione of Italy, i n t h e l i t t l e t o w n o f P o m a r i c o , p r o v i n c e o f Matera. Antonio Vivaldi's "nonno", Camillo Calicchio, who was a tailor, decided to move North due to a deadly peste epidemic circa 1649. Camillo, accompanied by his "zio" Francesco, arrived in Venice in early 1650. He opened a tailor shop which was an immediate success due to fine workmanship a n d r e a s o n a b l e p r i c e s . A few months later, a seller of V e n e t i a n l a c e , Z a n e t t a Temporini, walked into his t a i l o r s h o p . C a m i l l o w a s interested in the Lace she was selling and Zanetta too, for after a brief courtship they married. In December 1 6 5 3 , o n C h r i s t m a s E v e , Zanetta gave birth to a baby g i r l t h e y n a m e d C a m i l l a , t h e f u t u r e " m a m m a " o f A n t o n i o V i v a l d i , b o r n March 4, 1678. M i c h e l a n g e l o Buonarroti, born March 6, 1475 near Florence, was an artist, sculptor, architect and poet. He painted "The Creation of Man" and some of the most beautiful paint- ings in the world, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel i n R o m e . H i s s t a t u e s o f David and Moses are mas- terpieces in marble and his dome of St. Peter's estab- lished him as one of Italy's foremost architects. He died i n 1 5 6 4 , a n d w a s a l m o s t ninety years old, an excep- tional age for the time. *** St. Joseph, husband of M a r y , w a s p r o c l a i m e d p a t r o n o f t h e u n i v e r s a l church by Pope Pius IX in 1870, but the faithful have been praying San Giuseppe w o r l d w i d e f o r c e n t u r i e s , a n d h e i s g r e a t l y r e v e r e d throughout Italy, especially i n S i c i l y w h e r e h e i s t h e patron saint of the whole island. Just the sheer num- b e r o f m a l e s n a m e d Giuseppe or Joseph further a t t e s t t o h i s p o p u l a r i t y . M a r c h 1 9 t h i s t h e i r " O n o m a s t i c o " a n d N a m e Day Parties are held. *** Bernardo Bertolucci, b o r n M a r c h 1 6 , 1 9 4 0 i n P a r m a , I t a l y . H e i s b e s t known as an epic film direc- tor (Oscar award winner in 1 9 9 0 w i t h " T h e L a s t Emperor"). *** T h e N e w O r l e a n s Eleven, were murdered by a mob on March 14, 1891. Eleven Italian Americans were murdered, although they were found innocent in a c o u r t o f l a w . T h e m o b c o n s i d e r e d t h e m M a f i o s i who assassinated the City's crooked sheriff. *** Enrico Caruso (1873- 1921) had just turned twen- ty-two when he made his p r o f e s s i o n a l d e b u t i n N a p l e s , i n D o m e n i c o M o r e l l i ' s n e w o p e r a " L ' a m i c o F r a n c e s c o " o n March 15, 1895. During the engagements that followed, mostly in provincial Italian t h e a t e r s , h e l e a r n e d 1 6 major rolls in two years. *** Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1454. He was an explorer, but did not discover America. However, d u e t o e a r l y m a p - m a k e r s d e s i g n a t i o n s f o r i t a s "Amerigo's Land" the Land C o l u m b u s d i s c o v e r e d i s known as "America." *** Beniamino Gigli, born in Recanati, Italy, March 12, 1 8 9 0 w a s t h e f o r e m o s t Italian operatic tenor of the 1920s, 1930s and 40s. He appeared primarily in con- cert after World War II and in seventeen films. His final tour of North America was in 1955. He died in 1957 in Rome. *** Lt Joseph Petrosino, the New York police detec- tive hero, was theee head of the famous "Italian Squad." It consisted of twenty-seven agents, two of them Italian- s p e a k i n g I r i s h m e n , w h o w o r k e d e x c l u s i v e l y i n t h e I t a l i a n t e n e m e n t a r e a s , sometimes peddling vegeta- bles from a cart or swinging a pick in ditch-digging gang to ferret out mafiosi , and padroni who were exploiting the immigrants. Himself an i m m i g r a n t b o r n n e a r Naples, Petrosino had come t o A m e r i c a a t t h e a g e o f eight. In 1909, in order to investigate its home ground, h e b o a r d e d a s h i p a n d c r o s s e d t h e A t l a n t i c t o P a l e r m o . B u t w o r d o f h i s mission preceded him, and on a morning in March, as h e w a l k e d i n t o M a r i n a S q u a r e i n P a l e r m o , Petrosino was gunned down in the discharge of his duty. *** L a w r e n c e F e r l i n g h e t t i , b o r n i n Yonkers, New York March 2 4 , 1 9 1 9 . I n 1 9 5 3 h e c o f o u n d e d C i t y L i g h t Bookshop in San Francisco a n d p u b l i s h e d h i s P o c k e t Poet Series in 1955. In the 1990s Ferlinghetti served as t h e o f f i c i a l S a n F r a n c i s c o Poet Laureate. *** Arturo Toscanini, born March 25, 1867 in Parma, became New York chief con- ductor of the Metropolitan O p e r a H o u s e i n 1 9 0 9 . H e died in 1957. *** F r . J u a n C r e s p i , a Spanish missionary, born of Italian parents, put his foot o n t h e s o i l o f t h e S a n Francisco Bay area, together with a party lead by explorer Gasper DePortola in March 1722. *** Fr. Marco de Niza died in March 1558. He had led an expedition with Coronado into New Mexico, Texas, and A r i z o n a a n d h e l p e d b u i l d small schools there. *** Joe Di Maggio, Italian American baseball legend died in March 1999, at the age of 84. He was born in November 1914, his father, a fisherman, was born on Isola delle Femmine in Sicily. Joe j o i n e d t h e N e w Y o r k Y a n k e e s i n 1 9 3 6 . H e w a s born in Martinez, California. A children's hospital wing in Hollywood, Florida, carries his name.

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