L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, Feb- ruary is the month we celebrate Pres- ident's Day, Feb- ruary 21st this year. Back in t h e d a y , w h e n I a t t e n d e d G r a d e s c h o o l , L i n c o l n ' s birthday, February 12th, and Washington's birthday, Feb- ruary 22nd, were celebrated separately. T o i n s u r e t h a t f e d e r a l w o r k e r s h a d s o m e l o n g weekends throughout the year, in 1971 President's Day b e c a m e t h e c o m m o n l y accepted name due in part to retailers' use of it to promote sales, and the proximity to Lincoln and Washington's birthdays. I had never read of "Italian Connections" to any of our p r e s i d e n t s u n t i l t h e l a t e 1970s when after much active Italo-American input into the right ears, in 1980 Vice Presi- d e n t W a l t e r M o n d a l e announced that US Postal Service would issue a com- memorative stamp in honor o f P h i l i p M a z z e i , t h e native Italian who was one of the leaders in the fight for American independence. Mondale's announcement came at a Capitol Hill recep- tion of approximately one thousand persons for His Excellency Francesco Cossi- ga. Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy. The recep- tion was sponsored by the NIAF which, together with other Italian-American orga- nizations, had been leading the fight to gain recognition for Mazzei. At a time when members of other groups were being honored with stamps, the P o s t m a s t e r p r o p o s e d w e h o n o r t h e I t a l i a n P h i l i p Mazzei on a postcard. The Mazzei Stamp, finally issued in 1980, was a 40 cent inter- national airmail stamp and replaced the Wright brothers stamp then currently in use. The Mazzei stamp stayed in effect for several years until there was a rate increase. F i l i p p o M a z z e i w a s born in 1730 in the small hill village of Poggio a Caiano, ten miles outside Florence. Mazzei was set to become a doctor, but he did not com- plete his medical studies. Instead, he joined an expedi- tion going to Turkey as a sur- geon's assistant. It was this trip that developed his sense o f w a n d e r l u s t . A n d s o , instead of returning to Tus- cany, he signed on as doctor on a ship bound for London. After landing in London, Mazzei supported himself by giving Italian lessons to vari- ous wealthy people. Using these contacts, he became a very successful businessman by importing Tuscan wines to England. Prosperity as an Italian wine merchant did n o t b r i n g h a p p i n e s s t o Mazzei. He didn't want to be known simply as "Filippo the M e r c h a n t . " H e n e e d e d a challenge. He soon found it w h e n h e m e t B e n j a m i n Franklin. Franklin was, at the time, an agent for the American colonies in London. He and Mazzei met, and Franklin p r o v e d t o b e j u s t w h a t M a z z e i n e e d e d . F r a n k l i n encouraged him to travel to the new world and to bring with him some of the more prominent Italian agricultur- al products, especially Italian grapes and its olive oil. The idea of an experimental farm a p p e a l e d t o M a z z e i s o h e decided to accept Franklin's invitation and settle in Amer- ica. First however, Mazzei needed to go back to Tuscany to gather the various agricul- t u r a l p r o d u c t s h e w o u l d r e q u i r e f o r h i s f a r m i n g experiment. It was not a sim- ple matter, since the penalty for taking Tuscan products outside the region was death. Nevertheless, Mazzei spent over £3,000 to get an enor- m o u s a m o u n t o f v i n e s , shoots and other clippings to take to America, and, on Sep- tember 2, 1773, he sailed for the new world with his wife (the mistress he married) and step-daughter. Upon his arrival in Virginia, Mazzei w a s g r e e t e d b y T h o m a s Adams, a businessman with whom he had had dealings with in London. Adams took Mazzei on a search for a suit- a b l e p i e c e o f l a n d f o r a n experimental farm. During this search, Adams intro- duced him to several influen- t i a l V i r g i n i a n s , a m o n g them George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The meeting between Jef- ferson and Mazzei was par- Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. ticularly significant, since Jefferson had taught himself Italian while at college and greatly admired Italian music and culture. Jefferson per- suaded Mazzei to purchase a fourteen-hundred acre farm next to his own home, Monti- c e l l o . M a z z e i n a m e d t h e plantation "Colle" and start- ed work on his great agricul- tural experiment. To Maze's credit, he not only prospered as a farmer, but also became involved in colonial activities, particular- ly politics. He had a flair for w r i t i n g , a n d J e f f e r s o n encouraged him to write his thoughts in Italian so that he could then translate them into English. Sometime in 1774, Mazzei began writing a pamphlet which he entitled "Principles of the American Revolution by a Citizen of Virginia." In that document was this statement: "...tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi ed indipen- tenti..."("...all men are by nature equally free and inde- pendent..."). The fact that this state- ment appeared in Mazzei's w o r k a n d t h a t J e f f e r s o n translated it from Italian into English is sufficient proof that Mazzei was the source for Jefferson's famous phrase i n t h e D e c l a r a t i o n o f Independence, "...We hold these truths to be self-evi- dent, that all men are created equal." Jefferson never for- mally acknowledged the con- tribution that Mazzei made to that statement and so this fact has largely been over- looked by many historians. Thus, a minor player in the course of history, Mazzei, has b e e n o v e r s h a d o w e d b y a major one, Thomas Jeffer- son, our 3rd President.

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