Famous Italians Through History

Famous Italians Through History A-B-C

BY FR. JAMES LENTINI, NATIONAL SECRETARY

Andrea Amati (1500–1577)

A violin-maker from Cremona, Anrea Amati, laid the basis of modern violin-making. His grandson, Niccolo, had Antonio Stadivari, the inventor of the Stradivarius, as a pupil. Nicola ceased being actively involved in violin manufacturing by the end of 1670, and the business of violin-making passed to his son Hieronymus.

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265–1321)

Commonly known as Dante, this Italian poet greatly influenced generations of poets and authors throughout the centuries, such as Byron, Geoffrey Chaucer and William Blake. He was the author of La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy), an allegory of life and God as revealed to a pilgrim, translated into 59 different languages since 1400. It is written in terza rima, a three-line rhyme scheme of his own invention and tells the story of a man who endures the torment of Hell (Inferno) and Purgatory (Purgatorio) in his quest to reach Paradise (Paradiso).

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)

St. Tommaso of Aquino was a medieval Catholic priest who greatly influenced thinking and teaching in philosophy. His Summa Theologica has been published in 1,317 editions in 24 different languages since 1463. His writings gave rise to several schools and periods of thomism, an encompassing synthesis of philosophy, theology and the sciences of man.

Eugenio Barsanti (1821–1864)

Eugenio Barsanti, together with Felice Matteuci, developed the first internal combustion engine driven by gas. Their engine was never used as a commercial device, but, as it was more economical than the previous versions, it led to groundbreaking improvements in later developments of the gas engine.

Cesare Beccaria (Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria) (1738–1794)

Beccaria was one of the first to criticize the barbarism and ad hoc nature of 18th century criminal justice. He is the founding father of a classical school of criminology and most criminal systems in democratic countries are directly or indirectly based upon the recommendations in his work On Crimes and Punishments.

Giambattista Beccaria (1716 –1781)

Giambattista Beccaria discovered the light sensitivity of silver chloride, which was a very important development in the area of photography. Beccaria did much, by both experiment and exposition, to spread a knowledge of the

electrical researches of Benjamin Franklin, of whose research he was a strong supporter.

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375)

Boccaccio counts as an important figure in the development of a European humanist literature and influenced a large range of scholars and thinkers across genre and period. His Decameron has been translated into 49 different languages since 1380. It is believed to have influenced Geoffrey Chaucer and his famous book of the Canterbury Tales.

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446)

Known for his architectural works, sculpture, mathematics, engineering, and ship design, Brunelleschi is most famous for designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, a feat of engineering still studied today. He also developed the mathematical technique of linear perspective in art which governed pictorial depictions of space until the late 19th century and influenced the rise of modern science.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564)

Commonly known as Michelangelo, this Renaissance painter and sculptor famously sculpted the image of David, and the Pieta. Though more steeped in sculpture than painting, he painted the glorious ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City-State at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Giovanni Caboto (1450– c. 1500)

Commonly called John Cabot, this Venetian navigator explored the coast of Newfoundland under the commission of Henry VII of England in 1497. His discovery made him the first European to land in North America since the Norse visits to Vinland in the 11th century.

Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639)

An important philosopher of the late Renaissance, Camanella’s best-known work is the utopian treatise La città del Sole (The City of the Sun). He spent 27 years imprisoned in Neapolitan castles (1599–1626), where he used his time to take on the task of providing a new foundation for the entire encyclopedia of knowledge.

Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576)

Cardano was an Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler. Today, he is still well known for his achievements in algebra. He made the first systematic use of negative numbers in Europe, promoted the solutions for the cubic and quartic equations, and acknowledged the existence of imaginary numbers.

Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907)

In 1906, Giosuè Carducci became the first Italian to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. Although his reputation rests primarily on his poetry, he also produced a large body of prose, which fill some 20 volumes.

Enrico Caruso (1873–1921)

Enrico Caruso was a famous Italian tenor who sang at the major opera houses of Europe and North and South America, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic.

Giovanni Caselli (1815–1891)

Caselli invented the pan-telegraph, an ancestor of the fax, which became the first commercial application of the fax, established in 1865. For political and commercial reasons his invention was not further implemented until it was ‘re-discovered’ by Japanese inventors and developers and gave rise to a widespread public use of the fax through telecom lines.

Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571)

Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, painter, soldier and musician, who acquired world-wide fame because of his minute and lengthy autobiography. His vivid portrayal of 16th century Rome and Florence, in which drama and wit abound, is of great historical value. It was translated into German by Goethe. Cellini’s became famous throughout Europe for his work in precious metals.

Francesco Cirio (1836–1900)

Cirio was the first to develop the concept of preserving vegetables in cans in 1856. This Italian businessman is credited with developing the “appertization technique”— a method of processing vegetables that leads to them being canned. Cirio also worked to help the agricultural development of Southern Italy.

Christopher Columbus (1451–1506)

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator from the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy, whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. With his four voyages of exploration and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, all funded by Isabella I of Castile, he initiated the process of Spanish colonization, which foreshadowed general European colonization of the “New World.”

The Staten Island Alumni

Club made homemade tomato sauce from scratch in September. It was a true family affair hosted by our own Mike Young, the current VP for Alumni Affairs. Fifteen brothers helped out and we’re hoping to have lots of pasta in the future! Chef Chris Mancusi is wearing the chef’s hat. Past National President Todd Cusato is pictured next to his wife Vanessa.

Alumni Clubs Step Up to Honor COVID-19 Victims

The Staten Island Alumni Club (SIAC) and the Delaware Valley Alumni Club (DVAC) both ran extensive fundraising efforts to honor brothers of their respective clubs by endowing Foundation funds in memory of these beloved and dedicated brothers. Both brothers truly displayed permanent and activity and support throughout their life.

The SIAC effort was spearheaded by PNP Chris Mancusi to honor Brother Tony “Wheels” Castellano (Beta Phi ’81). Over $13,000 was raised over a period of several weeks, and is the fastest fund to ever reach the $10,000 mark! This money was raised to sponsor the Anthony Castellano Memorial Leadership Conference. This is the first memorial sponsorship of a Leadership Conference, and added Tony to the Omega Society posthumously (apd.org/omega-society).

More than 140 brothers contributed to this fund, including over 90 first time donors to the Foundation. Many of these were recent graduates and members of SIAC. To read more about Tony and view the donor list, see apd.org/Anthony-castellano.

DVAC lost Brother Ed Magliocco (Beta Delta ’50), a past National VP. Brother Joe (George) Casadonte coordinated this effort, raising almost $12,000 to endow the Ed Magliocco Alumni Emeritus Luncheon. This was also raised in a very short time period and is the first sponsorship of the Alumni Emeritus Luncheon. Ed was also added to the Omega Society posthumously.

This was funded by more than 50 donors, over 40 from DVAC, including the Magliocco Family. To read more about Ed and view the donor list, see apd.org/ed-magliocco.

Many thanks to both SIAC and DVAC, and brothers Mancusi and Casadonte for the efforts in memorializing two long time brothers and victims of the pandemic.

ABOVE: The North Jersey AC held be the first “in-person” event of the COVID-19 pandemic on June 20, 2020. Brothers were told to spread out as to socially distance themselves. The meeting was hosted in a very large property owned by Beta Xi alumnus Jeff Clarke. LEFT: A Tri-State Golf Outing was held September 12 at Royce Brook Golf Course in Hillsborough, N.J. by the Brooklyn, North Jersey and New York Alumni Clubs. The outing was a golf fundraiser which raised over $4,000 for the APD Foundation and was attended by 38 golfers.