L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 13 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Dear Readers, How do you like 2017 so far? Fine, I hope, if not, remember what Lincoln said on the subject: "People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." So take that frown and turn it upside down into a smile. My beautiful bambina Caterina, the success coach and motivational speaker, sends along these suggestions to make your life shine in 2017: Sparkle Take the first step Play twice as often Pursue your passion Amplify your gratitude Risk every day Let your heart show Trust yourself Find the time Offer your support Speak your truth Harmlessly (try not to hurt feelings) Laugh twice as much Create Embrace often Love yourself more than ever (*Eat chocolate often - M.G.) *** The sparkling wines of New Year reminds me Asti (spumante wines), Borsalino (hats), cars (Fiat) and dolls (Lenci) are among the best known Piemontesi-produced produce to the average tourist. The Piemonte region, Italy's northwestern corner, bordering the Alps, is often overlooked by tourists except for the alpine resorts that cater to the international glitzy ski set or Torino, with its acres of factories, executive offices of mega firms and smaller, specialized firms on via San Marino. Unlike most mega-firmed metropoli, Torino has an oasis of green, "Parco del Valentino" in the middle of the city. Designed in 1830, the park stretches along the left bank of the Po River, below Piazza Umberto. In the center of Parco del Valentino is the 17th century castle of Carlo di Castellamonte and nearby University botanical gardens, where among the well-tended roses and trees, lovers live up to the romantic Valentino name. At the park's southern end is the Borgo Medioevale and adjacent castle, created for a World's Fair in 1884. Piemontesi cafe philosophers and radical thinkers in the 1830s decided it was time to oust Italy's foreign rulers, forge an Italian state and push for a "Risorgimento" (revival). Almost 30 years later, King Vittorio Emanuele II of Piemonte and his prime minister Count Camillo Cavour whipped up a nationalist, anti-Austrian frenzy in the north. To get rid of a Bourbon king in Sicily, whose presence menaced the country's unification, the two conspired with (and inspired) Giuseppe Garibaldi who along with 1,000 volunteers called the Red Shirts, journeyed from Genova to Sicily to help the Sicilians oust King Francis II and turn the territory over to Vittorio Emanuele. In 1861 after the war with Austria and much political back-stabbing, the kingdom of Italy was established with Torino as its capital and Vittorio Emanuele as its monarch. The capital moved to Florence three years later. However, throughout Piemonte, street songs proudly commemorate the "Risorgimento" and there is a "Museo del Risorgimento" in Torino's Palazzo Carignano. *** Believe it or not! On Nov. 5, 1821, General Juan Bautista Bustos, military governor of the Argentine province of Cordoba, granted each of his veterans 1,500 hectares of presumably fertile land. If, however, the soldier in question happened to have a Piedmontese wife, then his allotment was doubled to 3,000 hectares. Which means that in Argentina in 1821 a single piemontesina was worth 3,750 acres. Move over Titanic! Thanks to Giancarlo Liberti of Turin, we've finally got some concrete information on those two immigrant ships immortalized in heart-wrench folk songs, the Sirio and the Mafalda. Both were liners of the Navigazione Generale Italiana, plying the transatlantic route between Genoa and South America. Just as the song says, "il 4 agosto alle cinque di sera" of the year 1906, the ill-fated Sirio hit a submerged rock, "un terribile scoglio" off Cabo de Palos in the south of Spain. The ship went down quickly, stern first. On board were 128 crew members and some 800 passengers: 600 Italians and 200 Spaniards picked up in Barcelona the day before. About 300 died. Most of them drowned, but many were crushed to death in the frenzied panic to reach the open decks. "E fra loro un vescovo c'era..." There really was. The archbishop of San Pedro in Brazil, who perished with the rest. The majority of Italian dead were from Liguria, but many were Piemontesi as well. The other traditional song based on a tragic shipwreck, and sung to the exact same tune of Il Sirio, commemorates the sinking of the Principessa Mafalda off the Brazilian coast, between Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, on Oct. 25, 1927. The cause was the loss of a propeller shaft. 314 perished, mostly third-class passengers headed for Argentina. *** Italo-American stamp collectors may be interested to learn that the first adhesive postage stamps for Egypt were printed in Genoa and appeared in Egypt on January 1, 1866. There was a large European community in Egypt in the middle of the 19th century because of the increasing mercantile traffic between India and Europe. Merchandise was carried overland between Europe and the Red Sea. The postal service of the Ottoman Turk Administration left much to be desired. The merchants needed an inexpensive and efficient postal service for their growing need to communicate with their European offices. It was this situation that precipitated the beginning of what was called the Posta Europea. An Italian named Carlo Meratti emerged from the merchant community and began a postal service for the delivery of private mail. The foreign consular offices of Austria, Britain, France, Greece and Russia utilized the service to send dispatches home. Meratti died in 1847 and was succeeded by his nephew. Tito Chini, and associate, Giacomo Muzzi. Offices were opened in Cairo in 1843; Damanhour in 1855; Tantah in 1856; and Zagasik and Zifta in 1857. As Posta Europea expanded, the Egyptians began to close more of their post offices in those areas in which the Italian offices had opened. On March 5, 1862, the Posta Europea was given the monopoly to carry mail in lower Egypt by the government, and mail was carried without charge but the Egyptian railways. This private mail service grew so large that it turned to Italy for help in meeting its additional responsibilities. Vittorio Chieffi of Milan was named "collaborator with the Posta Europea" and guided the expansion of the service. The Posta Europea did not issue stamps. Instead, its mail was hand stamped with the name of the post office or the place of origin of the letter. All working was in the Italian language. The Egyptian government, realizing that Posta Europea was far more efficient than its remaining services. purchased the company from Giacomo Muzzi, its owner, on January 2, 1865. Muzzi was named the third director general of the Egyptian Postal Service. He retained the majority of his staff, thus ensuring that the system would be Italian dominated for some time to come. The first adhesive postage stamps issued for Egypt were printed in Genoa and appeared in Egypt on January 1, 1866, as a result of Muzzi's orders. The wording is in Turkish, but the monetary designations are in italian, either "Para" or "PE" for piastre. In 1878, Italian influence waned when Britain and France established dual control over Egypt. From that date, Egyptian stamps carried French and later English inscriptions. MORE... *** Never bite the foot that stomps your grapes. *** Italian Hugs Are Better Than Drugs *** And remember what I told you before: Love makes the world go around, but Italians make it worth the trip...

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