L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, in February we t r a d i t i o n a l l y pause to cele- b r a t e l o v e r s (Valentine's Day) and Presi- dents . Once Abe Lincoln (February 12) and George Washington (February 22) were honored individually; now they are collectively cele- brated on President's Day (February 20). O u r t h i r d P r e s i d e n t , Thomas Jefferson, had a lifelong love for Italy and things Italian, as early as 1764, during his college days. T h o m a s J e f f e r s o n w a s born in Virginia on April 13, 1743, and died on July 4, 1826. He served as our third president from 1801 to 1809. He was 28 years old when he m a r r i e d a y o u n g w i d o w , Martha "Patty" Wayles, on New Year's Day 1772. He was nearly 40 when his wife died, in 1782. *** Monticello and Mazzei The inspiration for the layout and architecture of Thomas Jefferson's moun- tain-top home, Monticello, is clearly Italian. There is also ample evidence to sug- gest that Jefferson's long conversations with his Flo- rence-born neighbor, a talka- tive Italian exile-turned- wine-merchant named Philip Mazzei, inspired the lan- guage used in the Declara- tion of Independence. In an article translated by Jeffer- son, Mazzei wrote, "All men are by nature equally free and independent." Philip Mazzei appeared at Monticello in the winter of 1774, accompanied by Jeffer- s o n ' s L o n d o n m e r c h a n t agent, Thomas Adams. He b e c a m e a h o u s e g u e s t a t Monticello, brightening the last two months of the year for Jefferson, who had lost his sister Elizabeth, aged 29, earlier that year. When a series of earthquakes had rocked the buildings at Mon- ticello on February 21, 1774, Elizabeth had run outdoors in the raw winter weather and, confused, wandered away. She was found dead three days later. Mazzei, then 43, had been trained as a surgeon in Flo- rence, worked as a doctor on a ship, then practiced in the Middle East, before settling in London, where he had been a wine merchant for many years. A well-known horticulturist, he had sailed to Virginia to introduce the culture of grapes, olives, and whatever fruit trees would f l o u r i s h t h e r e , a n d h a d brought his own crew of Ital- ian vineyard workers with him. Jefferson indulged in some of his favorite activi- ties: building, gardening, buying and selling land. He drew up the charter of a joint stock company for his new friend and neighbor, Philip Mazzei, buying a fifty- pound sterling share in a scheme to cultivate silk, grow wine grapes, and raise olive trees on the Mazzei's slopes near Monticello, all without slave labor, and relying on Italian grapes imported from Tuscany. From April 1774, his notebooks were crammed with plans and expenditures to produce wine in the first large-scale viticulture experi- m e n t i n N o r t h A m e r i c a . According to local legends, Jefferson was able to greet thirty Tuscan winemakers in their own Tuscan accent. The men, who had heard only English for many months, wept. *** Jefferson on wine Jefferson, who seldom dined alone, discovered that fine wines and food were a great way to meet informally with political friends and foes, never talking about poli- tics but dropping a hint here and there of how he felt on a subject. He used these night- ly dinners as a form of leg- islative lobbying. Jefferson's first exposure to Italian wines had been during his trip to Northern Italy in 1787, and he was par- t i c u l a r l y i m p r e s s e d w i t h those made from the Nebbio- lo grape. He served 250 bot- tles of Nebbiolo while Presi- dent but his favorite Italian wine was from Montepul- ciano, located some 40 miles south of Siena, in Tuscany. *** Jefferson and women 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. Meeting the beautiful Ital- ian-born Maria Luisa Con- way in 1786 rekindled Jeffer- son's love for things Italian. A widower, the celebrated Vir- ginian fell in love with Maria Luisa (Hadfield) Conway the moment they met in early October 1786, while visiting Paris. As soon as Jefferson w a s i n t r o d u c e d t o M a r i a Luisa, he began to devise how he could spend every possible m o m e n t w i t h t h i s l i v e l y , beautiful lady. Soon, he was thinking to develop projects with an "Italian Connection" to prevent prolonged separa- tions, for instance, a possible v i s i t t o v i e w a r t i n M a r i a Luisa's birth city of Florence, or brushing up on his Italian c o n v e r s a t i o n s , n o w r u s t y since the departure of his neighbor Philip Mazzei. *** J e f f e r s o n m a k e s a n Italian connection J e f f e r s o n a l w a y s h a d a pragmatic side. Especially after a long series of diplo- matic checks in London and at Versailles, he had become d e t e r m i n e d t o b r e a k t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ' e c o n o m i c dependence on England and France by forging new trade ties with Italy. Especially interested in diversifying plantation agriculture and improving all laborers', black and white, conditions in his native country, Jefferson wrote to Governor John Rut- ledge of South Carolina in 1788, shortly after his tour of the Mediterranean: "Italy is a field where inhabitants of the S o u t h e r n S t a t e s m a y s e e much to copy in agriculture and a country with which we shall carry on considerable trade.

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