Italian Profiles of Success: James Egidio Faiella
We recently had a wonderful opportunity to chat with James Egidio Faiella. Jimmy—as his famiglia and friends call him—is a proud, professional Italian-American mandolinist performing traditional Italian Folk Music on the mandolino. It's a tradition that's been in his family for four generations. Jimmy was born and raised in West Aliquippa and Aliq...
Expo 2015, Kerry: Milano motore economico d'Italia e d'Europa
"Milano è il motore economico, sia dell'Italia che dell'Europa. È il posto perfetto per questa esposizione. Per questo gli Stati Uniti sono felici di poter partecipare all'Expo 2015". Lo ha detto il segretario di Stato, John Kerry, presentando dalla Benjamin Franklin Room del dipartimento di Stato a Washington l'innovativo padiglione con i...
Statement by Ambassador Bisogniero on the occasion of Italian National Day
Dear fellow Italians,Today, June 2nd, 2015 we celebrate the 69th anniversary of the Founding of the Italian Republic. This is also the first time that our new Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, celebrates this special day. We recognize, in particular, the core values at the base of our unity: freedom, democracy, equality, and peaceful coexistence be...
The Italian Stallion
The name Sylvester Stallone has immediate connotations of explosive Hollywood blockbusters, testosterone-fuelled heroism and of course, muscles. Starring in films like Rocky, Rambo and The Expendables means the action star has made a career out of high-intensity cinematic moments. However, this isn't the case when Stallone is off-duty. Awa...
Luis Marden: Italian of the Week
On January 25, 1913, Annibale Luigi Paragallo was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. As a teenager, he taught himself six different languages, including Egyptian hieroglyphics. He enrolled in a photography class in high school and fell in love with the medium. When he was 19, he wrote what is considered to be the first book on 35mm color photography c...
Dr. Roberta Marongiu: Italian of the Week
Italian-born Roberta Marongiu isn't just any medical researcher. She received her Ph.D. in medical genetics & neuroscience from the University of Rome in Italy as well as the University of California. She's an instructor of neurological surgery and also conducts research at the Molecular Neurosurgery Laboratory at the Weill Cornell Medical Coll...
Book review: A Literary Tour Of Italy
There's little sense in the English-speaking world of an Italian literary tradition that can stand alongside our vastly more substantial understanding of a French or German one. How did the language of European self-knowledge, of Dante's sacred (or sacred-ish) poetry and Petrarch's secular model collapse into a language largely associated...
A Few Lessons on Learning Italian
After reading a witty, self-deprecating, and insightful New York Times essay by William Alexander, where he details the benefits of learning a second language as an adult, "The Benefits of Failing at French," I decided to come clean on my relationship with learning Italian. It all started when I was a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Wisc...
Diplomazia e Dintorni - Italian language promotion for Italians living abroad
Preserving a knowledge of one's mother tongue is essential to all those Italians who decide, either as a result of need or choice, to move abroad to live. Italy has been, and is still today, a country of emigration. The Directorate General for Italians Citizens Abroad and Migration Policies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looks to assis...
Miami Businessman First to Fly In World's Fanciest Airplane Suite
by Jo Piazza A Miami-based businessman is officially this week's fanciest flyer. Gino Bertuccio has become the first passenger to fly in what has been dubbed "the world's most expensive and exclusive" airline seat— the Residence, a "penthouse in the sky" on Etihad Airways that costs $21,000. Bertuccio's trip marked the inaugu...
Lady Gaga Climbs Ev'ry High Note in 'Sound of Music' Tribute
by Brittany Spanos For the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music, Lady Gaga belted out a gorgeous medley of songs from the film at the 2015 Oscars. Clad in white and accompanied by a string section, Gaga sang four tracks from the film and musical's soundtrack — "The Sound of Music," "My Favorite Things," "Edelweiss" and "Climb Ev'ry Mount...
US (PA): Tarocco blood oranges available
"Tarocco blood oranges are in from Sicily, Italy", says Kara Wilson with John Vena Produce, Inc. They are grown on the volcanic plain of Mt. Etna, where the fertile soil gives the oranges their deep color and unique flavor. "Tarocco oranges contain the highest level of vitamin C of any orange variety in the world with a medium size providi...