L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2020 L'Italo-Americano W h e n transatl a n t i c a i r travel resumes, the fishing village Sciacca might be the ideal base for trips into the inte- rior and along the coastline of stunning Sicily. But even as the Covid-19 pandemic eases, the village is note- worthy for another reason: it is associated with a prominent scientist in the US, a competent, trustwor- thy, and comforting hero named D r . A n t h o n y Fauci. Located in the south- western province of Agrigento, Sciacca offers a lively atmosphere—last July fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana launched their collection from this town famed for its coral jewelry. Sciacca is a rustic-chic locale that spreads over different levels on the hill- side. Its old town and the café-strewn main square, the panoramic Piazza Scandaliato, are pleasant places to wander on the next level up. Higher on the slope are the town's castle and the upper perimeter of the old city walls that date back to the 1300s. With the islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa on the right and left respectively, it is close to Tunis in the Maghreb region of North Africa, and that's what gives the Sicilian town its unique fla- vor. Culture in Sciacca is b u i l t o n t h e s e a. Fish canneries and the red coral trade have been the driving forces for several centuries — the catch, landing, pro- duction, and processing of anchovies, sardines, and mackerel are still very seri- ous businesses in the town today together with pink shrimp harvested from the crystal waters off the coast. A colorful tangle of streets around the old port works its magic on you with the interplay of light and shadow throughout the day as the sun rises over Mount Kronio and sets behind the stones of the majestic Jesuit College. The house of Dr. Anthony Fauci's grandfa- ther, Antonino Fauci, is still standing in the old residential sailors' quarter. "It is a typical sailor's home located on an alley- way with a splendid view of the harbor," says Francesco Fauci, a 76- year-old former tax collec- tor resident of Sciacca. Dr. Anthony Fauci, 79, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, was born on the day before Christmas, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York, to an Italian family. His grand- parents on his father's side were from Sciacca, while his grandmother from his mother's side was from Naples and his maternal grandfather was born in Switzerland. "Dr. Anthony Fauci's grandfather was my grand- father's uncle," reveals Mr. Francesco Fauci. "Dr. Fauci's 'nonno' had three brothers: Giuseppe, Alfonso, and Pietro. My grandfather Francesco was Pietro's son." "In Sciacca, Dr. Fauci still has four relatives including me," he says. "A fifth relative has just passed away. Also named Antonino Fauci, he was 'u marinaru' or a sailor." Dr. Fauci's grandfather was a sailor as well. "In Sciacca, he grew up to be a coral fisherman," Mr. Fauci says. In the 1800s coral fishermen in the Mediterranean used small rowboats and wooden dredges to tangle the red coral and haul it by hand. Discovery of large beds of stunning red coral between Sciacca and Tunis in the 1880s lead to a coral rush of 2,000 vessels into those emerald waters. Francesco talks in terms of a golden age of coral fish- ing, a 20-year period around 1888-1908. "At the time, they all became coral fishermen in Sciacca. They fed their families thanks to those healthy, spectacular corals," Mr. Fauci notes. Then the value of coral depreciated, says Mr. Fauci. "So the Saccense (the inhabitants of Sciacca) went back to traditional fishing. At that point, I believe Dr. Fauci's grandfa- ther started working at the local tonnara, or tuna pro- cessing facility, while his brothers were employed doing salt-bluefish work," he says. Antonino Fauci married a paesana, Calogera Guardino. "Guardino is a common surname from Sciacca," he says. In an interview that appeared in the National Institutes of Sciacca, in Sicily, is a traditional fishing village (Photo: Credi Accursio Graffeo) A view of Sciacca, in Sicily (Photo: Dreamstime) Sciacca, coral town, the ancestral land of Dr. Fauci MARIELLA RADAELLI Continued to page 10 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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