L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY N ot many know that the famous quota- tion All men are created equal used in the American Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson was suggested by an Italian, Fillippo Mazzei. Or that on his death bed, one of the most brilliant Italian minds, Leo- nardo da Vinci, said: "I am a complete failure," referring to his long search for the nature of the soul. Spreading knowledge about the Italian and Italian-American people who made a difference in the world had always been Robert Barbera main goal. Through his foundation, he sponsored the Mentoris project, a series of books aiming to inspire the new generations through the lives of these figures. Enrico Fermi, Cicero, Chri- stopher Columbus, Mother Cabri- ni, Filippo Mazzei, Louis Palma di Cesnola, A.P. Giannini, Ernest Gallo and Guglielmo Marconi are the protagonists of the first nine books, which will be followed by many others. "We planned 50 books, they are all in the process. Indeed, I have in my mind to make 60," Barbera proudly tells us. The launching of these first nine books was held at the Italian Cultural Institute on February 15th, enthusiastically hosted by director Valeria Rumori. Welco- med on stage by a warm round of applause, Robert Barbera opened his speech by recalling how this project has been on his mind for years and years. As a student, he had already noticed the absence of certain information from history books."I really believe it's necessary to keep the heritage we inherit alive. Even many people born and rai- sed in Italy don't know these incredible individuals, who beca- me successful in many a field: science, literature, sports, busi- ness." Ken LaZebnik, the managing editor of the Mentoris project, took the stage right after Barbera. "We'll publish a new book every month throughout the year," he explains. "In total, 30 authors have been working on 50 books. They are available in digital for- mat, and can be printed on demand on our website, www.mentorisfoundation.org." Passages of two books were read to the audience by the two authors that attended the event, Rosanne Welch and Kate Fuglei, who respectively wrote America's SILVIA NITTOLI The legacy of great Italians and Italian-Americans in the Mentoris Project books ple from so many different back- ground and fields of life. Such as? Religion for example. We asked ourselves: who wrote the greatest religious books, who did the most for Catholics? It was mother Cabrini. We always con- centrate on what was significant yesterday and still is today. And also Leonardo da Vinci: we know everything about his inventions, but what's interesting is the book speaks about his childhood and also about his death, when he said "I am a complete failure." Who would have thought it? He referred to his endless search for the true nature of Man's soul, and it's fascinating to think someone of such a high intellect could feel his understanding of spirituality was inadequate. That's why I put him in the religion section. What other topics do you discuss in these publications? Business. We have the greate- st banker of his time, de Medici, who is comparable to Giannini, who developed the largest bank in the United States and in the world. We dedicate plenty of space to history, but what really matters is who we are: with these books, we aim to create something that can truly bring people to appreciate their ance- stors' heritage. Peggy O'Reilly (author of Thomas Aquinas) with her husband Paul and her family, on the right Robert and Josephine Barbera L to R: Ken LaZebnik and his wife Kate Fuglei (Author of Fermi's Gifts) along with Kathleen Chil- ders (Website Coordinator) and her husband Steve Childers Fermi, Cicero, Columbus, are only a handful of the important figu- res protagonists of the Mentoris Project Books Peg Lamphier (Author of Luigi Palma di Cesnola) and Rosanne Welch (author of Filippo Mazzei) Forgotten Founding Father: A Novel Based on the Life of Filip- po Mazzei and Fermi's Gifts: A Novel Based on the Life of Enrico Fermi. "Mazzei came to Virginia to make wine and that's where he met Jefferson, they became very good friends, they were living next door." Rosanne Welch tells us. "He didn't join the Continen- tal Congress because he wasn't sure his English was good enou- gh to follow the debates. But he would help Jefferson with his ideas and Jefferson would help him with English." "Eventually, the sentence All men are created equal, which was contained in one of the pamphlets Mazzei wrote about the revolution, passed from Maz- zei to Jefferson and became part of our Declaration of Indepen- dence. I have a PhD in American History and I had never heard about it. Mazzei kept writing arti- cles to support the rebellion and was eventually sent back to Euro- pe to get money and soldiers, and come back to help the fight against England. So he was dee- ply important, just like Lafayet- te." And while Mrs Welch is going to devote the next book to Giuseppe Garibaldi, Kate Fuglei just finished hers about Maria Montessori and will eventually write one about director Frank Capra. "I was lucky I had the opportunity to write the first book about Enrico Fermi, who was such a wonderful person, so full of humor and passion and so unpretentious. Getting to know more details about the Manhattan project and the atomic bomb was also very interesting." Before the ending of the event we had the chance to interview Robert Barbera and find out more details about the Mentoris project. How did you decide to start sponsoring the project? I used to be a columnist at L'Italo-Americano and every week I would write a column about an important figure, but it was limited to 500 words. With books, one can give more space to understanding the true value of a person and their life. It's extre- mely important to leave a legacy for the next generation. Often families do not pass on this type of knowledge, so it's important to write about the many contribu- tions Italians and Italian Ameri- cans gave to the world. What was the impact of these people on our lives? These people were incredible, they were intellectuals. Without them, who knows what kind of culture we'd have now. The things we enjoy exist because what these people were able to do. How are these books diffe- rent from other biographical works? The difference is that these books talk about their lives at home, about the role of their families in the community, and how they got to do what they did. And I must say Italians should definitely be proud of these peo- ple! Are these books about very varied subject? Yes. The books are always coming out in groups of two, three or even four. For instance. if the topic is law, we'll write about someone who was born and raised in Italy and who gave a contribution in that field. For example, we have a book on Marcus Tullius Cicero and he had an amazing life. He was an attorney and he saved the Repu- blic during the first century BC. And then, 2000 years later, we had judge John Sirica, who car- ried on the trial for president Nixon and saved the Republic. So there's this duality between what people did several centuries ago and what they have been doing today. It's a way of lear- ning history: we write about peo-

• Cover