L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano I t's time for a cele- b r a t i o n a t t h e L e o n a r d o d a Vinci Society. On December 10th, at the St Francis Yacht Club in S a n F r a n c i s c o , m e m b e r s and supporters of the San Francisco-based organiza- tion will get together for a holiday Gala and to honor three fellow Italians making an impact on their fields. It will also be the occasion to meet the new President of the Board of Directors, Mrs. Carla Priola Anisman, who just embarked on this journey to lead the Society for the next few years. The Leonardo da Vinci Society is a cultural organi- zation and has been provid- ing the community with lec- tures, concerts, exhibits, and receptions with distin- guished speakers. The main focus is on the importance of Italian history and culture as well as the contributions of Italians to American life. During the past few years, the Society has been work- ing hard to attract young people, by adding programs more focused on interna- tional contributions across generations. Science and t e c h n o l o g y b r o u g h t b y Italian entrepreneurs are becoming important fields that the Society is exploring. W e t a l k e d t o P r e s i d e n t P r i o l a A n i s m a n w h o introduced us to her role and what to expect for the months to come. Carla, first of all, con- g r a t u l a t i o n s o n y o u r new role as President of the Board. How does it feel? I was glad to accept the role of President. I was orig- inally elected two years ago, however I had to back out because I realized I wouldn't have enough time to dedi- c a t e t o t h e L e o n a r d o d a Vinci Society during that p e r i o d . A s t h e n e w President, I would like to continue the tradition of p r e s e n t i n g t h e b e s t o f Italian culture in the Bay Area with lectures, concerts, movies, and gatherings to honor excellent personali- ties. I would like to continue the thread established in 2019 by my predecessor Amelia Antonucci on the occasion of Leonardo 500 Anniversary's celebration and collaborate with ISS- NAF in selecting young sci- entists and humanists of Italian descent. The LDV Society is awarding them with a diploma, a trophy, and a check of $1000 for t h e i r a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s thanks to the generosity of our Members. This is our t h i r d y e a r : i n 2 0 1 9 , w e awarded six young people a n d g a v e f o u r H o n o r a r y Awards to Gaia Andreoletti, Simone D'Amico, Vanessa Polito; in 2020, to Caterina Vernieri, Evelyn Ferraro, a n d E n r i c o D a l d e l l o . Additionally, four Honorary A w a r d s w e n t t o L a u r a Waste, Alessandro Baccari, F e d e r i c o F a g g i n , a n d Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Can you tell us a bit m o r e a b o u t t h e L D V Society and your role as President? The Leonardo da Vinci Society was started in 1949 by three ladies, Mrs. Louis P i c c i r i l l o , M r s . D o b b i n s D ' A n n e o , a n d C o u n t e s s Lillian Dandini. They had met to discuss an organiza- tion they ultimately named " T h e L e o n a r d o d a V i n c i Society" after the renowned R e n a i s s a n c e m a n . T h i s Society was born to promote Italian Culture in the United S t a t e s a f t e r t h e S e c o n d World War, in order to unite people through arts and lit- erature. During those years, there were not many Italian cultural organizations in the a r e a . I m e t M r s . L o u i s Piccirillo when I first arrived in the United States and she i n t r o d u c e d m e t o T h e Leonardo da Vinci Society. I admired her very much. By mingling among its mem- bers, I felt like I never left Italy. They were warm and kind and made me feel wel- come. T h e p a n d e m i c h a s changed the way we do e v e n t s a n d w e h a d t o run lots of them virtual- l y . H o w d i d t h e L D V S o c i e t y c o p e w i t h t h e change? Y e s , t h e p a n d e m i c d i d change our world in a very short time. We really had to change fast, some of us had never used Zoom before and we adapted not to miss our lectures. We discussed it w i t h t h e m e m b e r s o f t h e C u l t u r a l C o m m i t t e e a n d d e c i d e d t o h a v e w r i t e r s , singers, musicians present v a r i o u s t o p i c s , s u c h a s m u s i c w i t h P a s q u a l e E s p o s i t o , a s i n g e r f r o m N a p l e s . W e w e r e a b l e t o offer lectures, interviews, and a film, all events chaired b y P r o f e s s o r E l i s a b e t t a Nelsen and organized by Amelia Antonucci and the C u l t u r a l C o m m i t t e e . W e presented the movie, It will be chaos by Lorena Luciano and Filippo Piscopo, who was the winner of the HBO E m m y A w a r d s , a n d a n interview with local people left to cope with their own economic problems. We had a lecture with Dacia Maraini on her book Trio, a story of two friends, a man, and the plague in Messina. We had Marcello Simonetta, a writer w h o p r e s e n t e d A l l Machiavelli's Men, giving us the privilege of addressing Representatives of the LDV Society at the Italian Parade in San Francisco with Consul Strozzi Selling Homes Throughout The Bay Area Adele Della Santina "The Right Realtor makes all the di昀erence." 650.400.4747 Adele.DellaSantina@compass.com www.AdeleDS.com DRE# 00911740 Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation! The Leonardo da Vinci Society ends 2021 in style: a Gala, a new President, and excellence awards to some Italian talents SERENA PERFETTO SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY Continued to page 30

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