Reviews of the volume:
“The Italian legacy in the Dominican Republic. History, Architecture, Economics, Society.”
Edited by Andrea Canepari
Italian and Spanish editions published by Allemandi, 2021. American edition published by Saint Joseph's University Press, 2021.
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS
1. The Latin Americanist, Aaron Coy Moulton, The University of North Carolina Press, Vol. 66, No. 3, 2022, pp. 350-351.
Andrea Canepari's The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic would be a fun coffee table book for those interested in small vistas and brief readings on the topic of Italian-Dominican history. The Italian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Canepari brings together a diverse array of contributors who each provide a few pages into various aspects of the history and culture between the two nations and its people. Including notable academic experts such as Mu-Kien Adriana Sang Ben and Michael Hall alongside remarks from Dominican and Italian politicians and officials, the volume could certainly entertain guests and visitors for a few minutes thanks to its colorful photos, assortment of topics and personalities, and very readable entries. The volume is in no way authoritative or rigorous with its entries, as it seems most essays intend to offer topical snippets that could liven up a general discussion or conversation. This is quite evident in the near-hagiographic celebration of prominent Italian migrants to the Dominican Republic and lack of discussion of relations under Italian fascist Benito Mussolini and Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. Most notably, there is a relative silence on Christopher Columbus's traumatic legacy. Beginning with Canepari in the editor's introduction, those authors who touch upon Columbus stress his Genoese/Italian culture, familial background, or political efforts, as in Gabriella Airaldi's chapter. Considering this compilation aims to provide a fairly lighthearted overview, delving into the extremely contested position of Columbus was likely outside the capabilities of many of the volume's contributors. In contrast, Frank Moya Pons deserves credit in his entry for noting the Genoese links between African slavery and Dominican sugar production in the colonial era. Still, the volume could offer broad starting points for students interested in pursuing a more thorough
examination of a transatlantic topic on Italian-Dominican migration, politics, and culture. The entries on architecture, art, and economics are solid introductions from which plenty of scholarship could emerge, especially if students approach these essays as historiographical entrées from which a more comprehensive literature can progress. For example, there is Giancarlo Summa's entry on Ilio Capozzi, a soldier in Mussolini's military during the Second World War, in Trujillo's anti-communist foreign legion in the early 1960s, and in the Constitutionalist opposition to Dominican and U.S. military aggression during the Dominican Civil War and U.S. Invasion from 1963 into 1965. With the increased availability of materials at the Archivo General de la Nación in Santo Domingo alongside collections in Europe and the United States, students could delve deeper into Alejandro Paulino Ramos's, Bernardo Vega’s, and Antonio Guerra Sánchez's vignettes into provisional Dominican governments, Amadeo Barletta, and Antonio Imbert Barrera. Add in a more nuanced portrait of global currents and transnational issues during the Great Depression or the Cold War, and new scholarship could undoubtedly flesh out what The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic's contributors only mention in passing.
Original contribution available on: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/12/article/864697
2. Journal of Global South Studies, Jeffery T. Morris, University Press of Florida, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2022, pp. 440-441.
Humans depend on the strength of their connections and relationships with one another to ensure their health and resilience as individuals, communities, societies, nations, and, ultimately, a species. We are social beings who need one another to survive and to thrive. It was therefore both fortunate and gratifying to encounter a book that expansively covers the centuries-long relationship between the people of two nations, Italy and the Dominican Republic, which has enriched both countries. In The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic, Andrea Canepari, who served as Italy's ambassador to the Dominican Republic, brings together in one large volume an impressive number of contributions from individuals of wide-ranging backgrounds, expertise, and experience, who collectively tell a fascinating story of the long and multifaceted relationship between Italians and Dominicans. The English version of the book is published by Saint Joseph's University Press in Philadelphia. The work covers a wide range of topics, arranged into the following sections: history; architecture; literature and the arts; economics and science; and journalism, law, and society. Within each topical section are diverse contributions of varying length, depth of coverage, level of analysis, and point of view. It is this diversity that makes reading The Italian Legacy in the Dominican 2
Republic such a delight. In the subsection on ecclesiastical history, for instance, the reader is treated to a historical sweep across Dominican time and space, beginning with a survey of the clash between Bishop Alessandro Geraldini and local officials over indigenous peoples' rights in the early 1500s, to an account of Archbishop Ricardo Pittini's mid-twentieth-century management of the Church's relationship with the Dominican government during the long [End Page 440] rule of Rafael Trujillo. Likewise, in the political history subsection, contributions cover a broad swath of time, from a comparison of Dominican hero Juan Pablo Duarte with celebrated Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini, to an intriguing account of an Italian soldier of the Second World War who ended his life fighting with Dominican insurgents in the 1965 uprising in Santo Domingo. The other sections—spanning a wide range of Italian-Dominican cultural, political, scientific, economic, and other social interactions and connections over the history of the Dominican Republic—are equally diverse and informative. The book is also filled with many interesting and evocative photographs and illustrations that enhance the reader's engagement with the work. The section on architecture, divided into colonial and modern parts, is particularly rich in photographs of early and modern Italian-Dominican architecture. One of the photographs of the interior of the National Palace serves as the book's cover photo and exemplifies the vivid and sometimes outright gorgeous photographs the reader will find in this section as well as throughout the book. Some readers may find puzzling the unevenness of the chapters, which range from half-page thumbnail sketches to full treatment of historical subjects, and from annotated lists of archival records to incisive academic analyses. However, this unusual diversity of compilation lends both a charm and an interest to the work that, once readers give themselves over to it, opens a unique, immersive, and rewarding reading experience that can be appreciated by scholars and lay persons alike. For those who are interested in Italian-Dominican relations, Italian and Dominican history, or in general how relationships between nations enrich not just national cultures but the human experience broadly, Andrea Canepari's The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic is a useful, edifying, and entertaining contribution to the literature on cross-national and global relations. The editor and all the many contributors are to be applauded for producing this informative and enjoyable book.
Original contribution available on: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/227/article/883285
3. Italian Quarterly, Ginetta Candelario, Smith College, LIX, 231/234, 2022, pp. 179-181.
Some years ago, I took my Dominican-Italian-Cuban heritage children to visit Christopher Columbus’s family home in Genoa Italy, telling them that their heritage connection to both Italy and 3
the Dominican Republic was not only personal, but historical. However, until reading Andrea Canepari’s edited volume on The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic I had not realized the actual extent to which that framing is spot on. This big, beautiful, and high-quality book offers readers forty-seven entries written by forty-five scholars, industry professionals, government officials, and community members who convincingly argue that Columbus’s expeditions initiated a more than five century-long history of Italian settlement, immigration, incorporation, and engagement with the island and territory that became the Dominican Republic. As an object, the book - which was printed and bound in Treviso, Italy—is quite lovely, having the look and feel of a coffee table book due to its hefty dimensions (9 ½” x 12” x 1 ¾”); the high grade of the paper in terms of its opacity, gloss, and brightness; its graphic design and layout; and the extensive use of images. My only critique in terms of production is that the endnotes for one of the chapters I consider most useful, Arturo Martinez Moya’s “Italian Investment in the Modern Dominican Economy” (380-95), are missing, which is especially unfortunate given that there were nearly 70 of them. I hope that this oversight is corrected in future editions of the English-language volume, and perhaps does not occur in the Spanish language and Italian language editions which I imagine will be equally impressive in scope and production value. This project is the third of a series that Italian Ambassador Andrea Canepari has edited focused on the Italian heritage of the locales he has been assigned to; his earlier volumes focused on Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Moreover, as Canepari’s “Introduction” explains, it was inspired by italo-dominicano author Marcio Veloz Maggiolo’s 2001 article “Italianos en la vida dominicana” (“Italians in Dominican Life”) published in El Siglo newspaper. As the subtitle indicates, the book covers history, architecture, economics, and society. The history section covers “General Subjects” such as Italian immigration, largely from Liguria through the end of the 19th century and later Calabria, to particular regions of the Dominican Republic; “Columbus and the Sixteenth Century”; “Ecclesiastical History”; and “Political History.” The Architecture section covers “Colonial Architecture” and “Modern Architecture.” The remaining three sections are out of sequence with the subtitle, as instead of economics following architecture there are sections that cover “Literature and the Arts” and “Journalism, Law and Society” (presumably as components of the society content indicated in the subtitle), with a section on “Economics and Science” between them. This small detail 180 notwithstanding, all the chapters offered informative essays that ranged from scholarly research to testimonio to reports from industry leaders and government officials from both Italy and the Dominican Republic. The appropriate Dominican scholars are represented in the table of contents, including renowned historians Roberto Cassá, Raymundo González, Jeanette Miller, Frank Moya Pons, Alejandro Paulino Ramos, Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi, Mu-Kien Adriana Sang Ben, 4
Bernardo Vega, Wenceslao Vega Boyrie. Also represented are Italian scholars such as Gabriella Airaldi and Rosa Manfredonia, and two U.S.-based scholars who are not of Dominican descent, Michael R. Hall and Michael Kryzanek. Taken together, the texts offer convincing evidence of a not-simply long-standing but more importantly, meaningful Italian immigrant and heritage presence and participation in significant historical moments and nation-building projects. From Columbus’s expeditions, to his son Diego´s colonial administration and construction of Europe´s first permanent colonial settlement in the Americas, Santo Domingo, to the central role of Catholic clergymen in Santo Domingo’s ecclesiastical and political history well into the 20th century, as was the case of Archbishop Ricardo Pittini during the Trujillo dictatorship; to the central role of Italian architects and engineers in the design and construction of signature buildings such as the national Cathedral and the Palacio Nacional (Executive Mansion); to the complicated but undeniable contributions of Dominicans of Italian descent such as the Vicinis and Punta Cana developer Frank Ranieri to national economy, this book illuminates the truly substantial contributions Italians and their descendants have made to Dominican history, politics, economics and society. Indeed, through its celebratory and laudatory tone, the book succeeds in Canepari’s goal of inspiring a sense of ethnic pride in those of us who share this Dominico-Italian heritage. Sadly, it is precisely that celebration of Dominican Europeanity that simultaneously leads me to recognize and lament the sharp contrast between this celebration of Italian heritage in the Dominican Republic with the ongoing official refusal to acknowledge - never mind celebrate - the equally long and much more extensive role and contributions of African, Afro-diasporic, and Haitian heritage peoples in the Dominican Republic. While some of the scholars do a good job of addressing the role of Columbus and the Iberian settler-colonialism he facilitated in fomenting genocide, racism, and chattle slavery on the island, overall Dominican europhilia, racism and colorism are glossed over. This is particularly notable given that several high-profile legal cases have brought world-wide attention to the fact that the dominant political, social, and economic classes in the Dominican Republic have systematically worked to incorporate and exploit Black labor while excluding Black people from citizenship and social honor, as In Someone Else’s Country: Anti-Haitian Racism and Citizenship by Trenita Brookshire Childers lays out exquisitely. Additionally, Maria Cristina Fumagalli, an Italian scholar whose book On the Edge: Writing the Border Between Haiti and the Dominican Republic (Liverpool UP, 2015) has 181 also contributed to the scholarly literature on Dominico-Haitian history and heritage, could have been invited to contribute or at least interviewed as an Italian scholar engaged in Dominican Studies. Likewise, the lack of attention to the other ItaloDominicanos—Dominican immigrants and their children born in Italy—is surprising. Scholars such as Lorgia García Peña (Translating Blackness: The Vaivén and Migrations of Latinx Coloniality, 5
Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2022) and Camilla Hawthorne (The Black Mediterranean: Bodies, Borders, and Citizenship, Palgrave MacMillan, 2021) have clearly demonstrated that Italo-Dominicanos are often considered Black in Italy and therefore not “authentically” Italian, even as - or perhaps especially when - they win national beauty pageants. This too, is part of the Italian heritage in the Dominican Republic and its diaspora, and deserves examination and inclusion in a volume like this. Finally, I found the predominant focus on male ItaloDominicano subjects profiled and the comparatively limited attention given to ItaloDominican women’s contributions troubling, especially when the attention that is proffered is largely focused on their roles as wives. In particular, the exclusion of feminist schoolteacher Luisa Ozema Pellarano—who played an important and nationally celebrated role in the development and expansion of a secular public education and teacher training - is notable, particularly given her male relative Arturo Joaquin Pellerano Alfau, founder of the Listín Diario newspaper, is profiled. The above critiques aside, The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic: History, Architecture, Economics, Society is an excellent resource, encyclopedic in scope and generally innovative in its focus Dominican-Italian history, heritage and relations that belongs in both Dominican and Italian Studies collections.
Original contribution available on: https://www.torrossa.com/de/resources/an/5702478
4. Hispanic American Historical Review, John Starosta Galante, Duke University Press, Vol. 103, No. 3, 2023, pp. 538–540.
As coffee-table books go, this one has some substantive scholarly value. It is quite common that historians of Italian migrations to the Americas will bemoan—even as they write about Argentina, Brazil, and the United States—the lack of research on Italian communities in the Caribbean, Central America, and the Andes. Moreover, not enough work has been done on the through lines that connect the preunification participation in Atlantic systems of peoples from the Italian peninsula and nearby islands (Neapolitans, Venetians, and others) with Italian mass migration after the Risorgimento of the 1860s. The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic helps expose these gaps, although it does not precisely fill them. Many of the book’s 47 chapters—arranged in sections on history, architecture, literature and the arts, economics and science, and journalism, law, and society —contain profiles of Italian prominenti who have had impacts on the Dominican Republic in the past and near present. Liguria-born Christopher Columbus comes first, but others include Alessandro Geraldini, from Umbria, the first Catholic bishop in Santo Domingo (and the Americas); Giovanni Battista (or Juan Bautista) Cambiaso, a Genoa-born merchant who helped establish the
Dominican navy during the independence struggle of the 1840s; and members of the Billini family, who had origins in Piedmont and established influential Dominican newspapers in the late nineteenth century. None of these people were officially Italian, as neither they nor their progenitors were from a country called Italy, which did not exist until 1861. But in this book, as with Italian national history and histories of other Italian overseas communities, the places (and people from places) incorporated into modern Italy are brought into historical narratives extending back to ancient Rome.Whatever their kingdoms, duchies, or republics of origin, however, these earlier migrants certainly helped chart a transatlantic course for postunification Italians to follow. And so the profiles of prominenti included in this volume continue for Italians residing in the Dominican Republic from the late nineteenth century onward. Their juxtaposition means to demonstrate how “the Italian community had been instrumental in forming a number of the identifying characteristics of the country, helping to build the political, social, economic, and cultural structures that played a part in molding the current Dominican Republic,” writes the editor, Andrea Canepari, ambassador of Italy to the Dominican Republic (p. 27). Among those featured are businessman Amadeo Barletta, who arrived in 1912, became a leading Italian fascist in the Dominican Republic, and served as a distributor for General Motors around the Caribbean. Guido D’Alessandro Lombardi arrived in 1927 and founded the Dominican army corps of engineers. Raffaele Ciferri, a DR resident from 1925 to 1932, conducted studies of tropical crops and established an agronomy institute. These are some of the more meaningful profiles, which include those of Italian sculptors of Dominican monuments, Italo-Dominican politicians and writers, a tobacco industrialist who bankrolled institutions of classical music, and present-day pizza chain owners and tourism moguls. The chapters are written by academics, high-level bureaucrats, lawyers, architects, economists, critics, archivists, cold warriors, members of the clergy, and more. Those authors and the subject matter suggest that this is, above all, a book about and by (and possibly for) elites—prominenti themselves—who represent government agencies, historical societies, universities, businesses, and the DominicanItalian Chamber of Commerce. Given the book’s design—a 9.5-by-12-inch hardcover with 536 glossy pages filled with color photographs and other illustrations—it is well suited to the anteroom of an executive suite or the lobby of a resort hotel. And even a casual reader should glean from its content important elements of Italian influence in the Dominican Republic, the circum-Caribbean, and transatlantic systems since the early arrivals of Europeans to the Western Hemisphere. Data tables on foreign direct investment (FDI), diplomatic timelines, and encyclopedic lists of immigrants contribute to this volume’s objective— expressly stated in the front matter by the editor, the president of the Dominican Republic, the Italian foreign minister, and other officials —which is to demonstrate long-standing connections and forward-looking opportunities for more
expansive economic and political relations between these two countries. Those connections and opportunities are evident, but also selective. For this is a book that represents more traditional narratives— sometimes referred to as great man history or top-down analysis— that are unfortunately incomplete and whitewashed. There are more stories to tell. Historically, those might include the lifeways of laborers in tobacco industries, say, while today the work of Lorgia Garcı´a Pen˜ a on AfroDominican women in Italy seems particularly relevant. Do not these women play a role in contemporary Dominican-Italian relations? Are not the cultural and social transmissions that emanate from them as impactful as those of the Dominican classical musicians and engineers profiled here who receive training at Italian academies? Should not the economic impacts of Dominican remittances from Italy be tabulated in this volume alongside FDI? Garcı´a Pen˜ a and others often explain their work as efforts to “decolonize” understandings of historical and contemporary phenomena. The contributions here instead seem to recolonize some of those same phenomena, even as they illuminate many lasting and impactful transatlantic connections between Italy and the Dominican Republic.
Original contribution available on: https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-abstract/103/3/538/351119/The-Italian-Legacy-inthe-Dominican-Republic?redirectedFrom=PDF
5. Italian Canadiana, Néstor E. Rodríguez, Vol. 38, No. 1, 2024, pp. 94–96.
Beyond its indisputable value in shedding light on Italian immigration to the Dominican Republic, Andrea Canepari’s The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic: History, Architecture, Economics, Society evidences a much larger scope. The book thoroughly portrays critical aspects of the history of Dominican capitalism, which began to consolidate in the late nineteenth century mainly through the business acumen of crucial figures in the Italian immigrant community. Although it is evident that Canepari’s curatorial task privileged a socioeconomic history frame, The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic also reveals a thorough attention to cultural history. This combination makes most of its forty-seven chapters both an illuminating and, at times, eyebrowraising read for scholars of Italian and Dominican studies. The essay by Frank Moya Pons that opens the collection is the best example of this textual alchemy. The Dominican historian juggles to present an account of the presence, dating back to the late fifteenth century, of people from the Italian peninsula in what has been known since 1844 as the Dominican Republic. In Moya-Pons’s account, Columbus appears as the “discoverer” of the Caribbean islands. The sinister aspects of the colonial enterprise put in motion by his actions in Hispaniola, namely the extermination of the
native population that led the way to the slavery of Africans, ended up being directed towards other Genoese figures of that time, such as the Centurión brothers. To try to counterbalance this fact, Moya-Pons includes a section on the Milanese merchant and traveler Girolamo Benzoni, whose Historia del Mondo Nuevo (1565) documents “the atrocities committed during the Conquest of the Americas” (p. 44). Apart from Columbus, another person age of Italian origin mythologized by Moya-Pons is Juan Bautista Vicini, “the founder of the country’s main corporate dinasty [sic]” (p. 47). According to Moya-Pons, Vicini arrived in Santo Domingo at twelve or thirteen years of age as a protégé of Nicolás Canevaro, a prominent entrepreneur in the import and export trade. At eighteen, Vicini became a partner of Canevaro’s company and by the time he reached his early thirties had risen to moguldom in the sugar cane business. Another chapter worth commenting on among the twenty that comprise the History section of the volume is Antonio J. Guerra Sánchez’s on Italian immigration to the capital city of Santo Domingo and the south and east of the Dominican Republic. Guerra Sánchez lists the most eminent Dominican families with ancestry in the Italian peninsula, including the Billinis, Bonas, Bonettis, Piantinis and Pelleranos. He presents a portrait of each of them, highlighting their relevance in contemporary Dominican society. In a similar hagiographic tone, Edwin Espinal Hernández focuses on Italians in the Cibao region, in the northern part of the Dominican Republic, whose presence “began to manifest itself from 1886 onward” (p. 75). Espinal Hernández emphasizes the protagonists of the small-scale commercial circuit and other areas of Italian solid influence. His attention to such figures as Fantino Falco, who is revered for his pastoral work and educational initiatives; architect Guido D’Alessandro Lombardi, who designed the National Palace; and Francesco Grecco, a shady, itinerant entrepreneur who brought cinema to the Dominican Republic in 1900, brings a more ample view to the topic at hand. The remaining sections include chapters on ecclesiastical and political history, architecture, literature and the arts, economics, science, journalism, and law. The essays vary significantly in terms of depth and style. Some of them are profoundly researched and documented, such as Myrna Guerrero Villalona’s piece on the mark of Italian sculptors in Dominican public art, Jeannette Miller’s on “Italy’s Influence on Dominican Art,” and Raymundo González’s on Raffaele Cifferi’s pioneering work in the development of the fields of botany and agricultural science in the Dominican Republic. Other essays are mere eulogies of celebrated icons of Italian descent in diverse areas, particularly the economic realm. Indeed, while the panegyrical tone characterizes the entire corpus, it reaches a particular high point when it comes to portraying the life and business sense of the members of the Dominican economic elite who happen to be of Italian ancestry. Mu-Kien Adriana Sang Ben’s chapter on tourism tycoon Frank Rainieri Marranzini is an excellent example. Sang Ben, a celebrated Dominican historian, describes Raineri Marranzini as a “dreamer who worked hard to
make his utopia a reality” (p. 432). Wisely, in the first endnote, Sang Ben explains that the piece comes from a book “commissioned by Grupo Puntacana” (p. 448), Rainieri Marranzini’s company. Most contributors to The Italian Legacy in the Republic: History, Architecture, Economics, Society are not shy in presenting similar motivations.
Original contribution available on: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/italiancan/article/view/43412
TRASLATED
FROM ITALIAN
1. Altreitalie, International Journal of Studies on Italian Migrations, Francesca Puliga, Vol. No. 63, 2021, pp. 142-144.
Among the various destinations of our emigration, the Dominican Republic may initially seem like a place of minor significance. Numerically small compared to the massive flows that affected the Americas starting in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Italian presence in the country was nonetheless constant over time, characterized by unique traits and closely intertwined with the most important political events. The Italians who settled there were primarily prosperous merchants and entrepreneurs, equipped with capital to invest in the promising Caribbean market. Thanks to their business connections, they quickly became part of the local elite, holding prominent roles within the community. For example, the first President of the Republic of Italian descent, Francisco Gregorio Billini, whose family came from Ravenna, was elected Head of State in 1884, just forty years after the former Spanish colony became an independent nation. Today, over 300,000 Dominicans claim Italian ancestry, while estimates suggest there are about 7,000 Italian citizens residing in the country. It is surprising, then, that historiography in Italy has so glaringly overlooked this reality. Even the most authoritative and extensive studies, such as "Storia dell’emigrazione italiana. Arrivi" (edited by Piero Bevilacqua, Andreina De Clementi, and Emilio Franzina, Rome, Donzelli, 2002), barely touch on the phenomenon of emigration to the Caribbean, while more specialized research on the topic is virtually absent. Ambassador Andrea Canepari’s decision to sponsor and curate the creation of this volume, described as an "instrumental and invaluable example for understanding the contributions of immigrants who have left deep imprints in the shaping of Dominican society" (p. 23), represents a particularly commendable initiative. It fills a significant gap, not only celebrating but also thoroughly analyzing the contributions made by Italians to the life of this country. The elegant and valuable graphic presentation of the publication corresponds to a remarkable richness of content. The work—involving historians, diplomats, clergy members, economists, jurists, and distinguished figures from Italian-Dominican civil society— results in an immersive piece that offers a multifaceted and comprehensive overview of the centuries-long experience of Italian immigrants in a nation to which they have given much and from which they have received much, as demonstrated by the meticulous insights that compose the book.
Symbolically, the fates of Italians and ancient Hispaniola have been intertwined since the time of Christopher Columbus, as the Genoese navigator’s journey concluded in the Greater Antilles, and the city that his brother Bartolomeo named Santo Domingo a few years later was the first stable European settlement in the New World. Beginning from the dawn of the modern age, the various chapters examine many individual personalities of Italian origin who have marked the history of the country: from the independence hero and father of the Navy, Juan Bautista Cambiaso, to the merchant Juan Bautista Vicini, the progenitor of the most renowned and influential ItalianDominican family. However, the volume does not merely consist of a collection of biographical profiles; it paints a complex picture of ties, bilateral relationships, mutual exchanges, and family traditions that have left their mark on the entire national culture. It is fascinating to trace this inexhaustible and fertile contamination in the visual arts, literature—among whom Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, universally recognized as “the most prolific and versatile author of Dominican letters” (p. 317), has Italian roots—in music and journalism. No less significant, however, have been the economic investments in agriculture, industry, and services that Italians undertook from the birth of the Republic, despite the extreme political instability that plagued the country for a long time: from tobacco and sugarcane cultivation to infrastructure development, Italian entrepreneurship has made its mark in almost every sector and continues to operate profitably in various fields today. The "legacy" referred to in the title is therefore not an inert inheritance but rather a vibrant and contemporary imprint, drawing from ancient traditions while adapting to the demands of modernity and globalization. It is worth noting that the Dominican community in Italy currently numbers around 60,000 people, resulting in a constant and growing circular mobility between the two hemispheres. One of the specific characteristics of the Italian-Dominican enclaves has always been to maintain close connections with the motherland, as evidenced by the countless associations and various clubs active in continually strengthening the dialogue between the two sides of the Atlantic through the promotion of food, craftsmanship, and conscious tourism. A detail, seemingly trivial, is recalled by scholar Michael Kryzanek, who notes that Italian-Dominican pride is also conveyed through symbols such as “a popular T-shirt […] which shows the flags of both countries linked by an equal sign that states proudly ‘Perfection.’”
Original contribution available on: https://journals.openedition.org/altreitalie/408
2. Archivio Storico dell’Emigrazione Italiana, Edizioni Sette Città, Stefano Luconi, No. 18, 2022, pp. 120-122.
Partly a collection of occasional celebratory texts and largely an anthology of academic essays, the work curated by Andrea Canepari, the current Italian ambassador to the Dominican Republic, reconstructs—on glossy pages and with an impressive array of images—the historical ties between the Caribbean nation and Italy. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the volume examines this relationship over a long historical period, from Christopher Columbus’s landing on the island he named Hispaniola to the present day, even including reflections on the impact of the recent COVID19 pandemic on trade relations. Special attention is given to the contributions of Italian immigrants and their descendants, not only to the economic development of Dominican society but also to its military, literary, architectural, artistic, and cultural spheres. Their influence on religious life and scientific endeavors is also highlighted. Thus, alongside the inevitable profile of the Genoese navigator who discovered the New World, presented by Gabriella Airaldi, are chapters such as Julia Vicioso’s on the 16th-century Alcázar de Colón, the residence of Columbus’s son Diego during his tenure as governor of Hispaniola and viceroy of the Indies; Juan Daniel Balcácer’s account of Giambattista (Juan Bautista) Cambiaso, the Genoese who established the Dominican Navy after independence from Haiti in 1844; a portrait of the Italian-descended writer Marcio Veloz Maggiolo by Danilo Manera; Michael R. Hall’s contribution on the episcopate of Ricardo Pittini, the conservative bishop of Santo Domingo from 1935 to 1961, initially aligned with the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo due to shared anti-communist views and the privileges granted to the Catholic Church under the 1954 concordat with the Vatican; and Raymundo Gonzáles’s essay on Raffaele A. Ciferri’s significant contributions to Dominican agronomy and botany. Beyond these sometimes episodic and slightly disjointed accounts of individual figures, the most enduring legacy of the Italian presence in the Dominican Republic is undoubtedly the investments in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and infrastructure, led by Italian immigrants and their descendants since the 19th century, initially spearheaded by those from Liguria. While the anthology tilts somewhat toward modern economic and commercial relations—as demonstrated by Celso Marrazzini’s chapter on the Italian-Dominican Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1987, likely reflecting the diplomatic corps’ modern role in promoting the so-called "Sistema Italia" abroad—the book clearly traces the 19thcentury origins of Italy's involvement, which also extended into politics. The story of the Vicini family, which appears throughout several chapters, is particularly illustrative. Giovanni Battista Vicini, the family patriarch in the Caribbean, immigrated from Zoagli, near Genoa, in 1860 to work for a business founded by a fellow countryman. Through his entrepreneurial spirit and strong ties with General Ulises Heureaux, President of the Dominican Republic during the 1880s and 1890s, he became a wealthy sugar and rum producer. His company, which later expanded into other sectors, still operates today under the name INICIA, with the Vicini heirs among the wealthiest families in
the nation. Additionally, his son, Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos, not only continued his father’s business ventures but also served as President of the Republic between 1922 and 1924, during the U.S. occupation. One noteworthy aspect of the anthology is its focus on the circularity of migratory flows between Italy and the Dominican Republic, with mention of the approximately 60,000 Dominicans currently living in Italy, as well as the transnational nature of this mobility. Guillermo Rodriguez Vicini’s tribute to his grandfather Angiolino Vicini Trabucco, for instance, highlights how emigrants maintained a deep connection to their homeland. In 1949, over 50 years after moving to the Caribbean in 1896, Trabucco donated land to the Italian state for the residence of Italy’s ambassador—a gesture from an Italy that had since transitioned from a monarchy to a republic. However, the book omits the subject of modern political transnationalism, such as the voting rights of Italian citizens abroad introduced by the so-called Tremaglia law, despite Michael Kryzaanek noting that approximately 43,000 Italians lived in the Dominican Republic in 2019. Similarly, an analysis of today’s Italian immigrants moving to the Caribbean nation not for work or investment but for retirement, seeking a mild climate and a lower cost of living, would have been a valuable addition. The authors generally demonstrate more familiarity with the Caribbean side of Italian-Dominican relations than the Mediterranean side. For instance, Cambiaso is mistakenly referred to as "consul of Italy" (p. 150) in 1856, though he actually held the title of consul for the Kingdom of Sardinia. Moreover, the book overlooks how the activities of figures like Giovanni Battista Vicini and the Genoese Bartolo Bancalari (who receives only a brief mention) at the turn of the 20th century were concrete examples of the entrepreneurial emigration to Latin America envisioned as a potential driver of Italy’s economic growth at the time, a theory famously articulated by Luigi Einaudi with reference to Enrico dell'Acqua’s experience in Argentina (Un principe mercante. Studio sulla espansione coloniale italiana, Torino, Bocca, 1900). Nor does the book fully capture how Italian entrepreneurs exported a model of family capitalism typical of their homeland to the Dominican Republic, a model recently celebrated in works like Núra Vilanova’s La esencia de la impresa familiar. Valores y comunicación (Barcelona, Plataforma, 2018), which highlights the Vicini family’s role in this tradition. Some chapters consist of a series of brief biographical sketches. Among the gallery of individuals of Italian origin or descent who contributed to the development of the Dominican Republic, men are prominently featured, while female immigrants are largely relegated to the roles of daughters and wives, with the exception of a few artists in the entertainment industry. The Caribbean society was not an attractive destination for Italian women, as it offered limited employment opportunities. Essays like Edwin Espinal Hernández’s on the Italian presence in the Cibao region and Santiago de los Caballeros are based on archival research of previously unpublished Dominican documents, though they lack reference to
Italian diplomatic sources. Other contributions take a more compiled approach, even when focused on highly specific topics. Despite the unevenness between chapters and the inevitable challenge of covering such a broad time span comprehensively, The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic succeeds in shedding light—often in original ways—on a largely neglected aspect of Italian emigration. Historiographical research on what Vittorio Cappelli has called the "other Americas"— the alternative transatlantic destinations beyond the United States and Argentina—has rarely ventured beyond Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Venezuela, and the much-studied Brazil (Storie di italiani nelle altre Americhe. Bolivia, Brasile, Colombia, Guatemala e Venezuela, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2009). Canepari’s work begins to address the gap regarding the Dominican Republic.
Original contribution available on: https://www.research.unipd.it/handle/11577/3427994?mode=complete
3. Giornale di Storia Contemporanea, Vittorio Cappelli, XXVI, n.s., 2, 2022, pp. 183-184. This substantial volume presents various points of interest, the first being that it is the result not of an academic project but, as is rarely the case, of an institutional initiative born within a diplomatic context. The curator of the research, which engaged more than forty scholars, is Andrea Canepari, who arrived as Italy’s ambassador to Santo Domingo in 2017. He aimed to gather insights from one of the Dominican Republic’s most important intellectuals, Marcio Veloz Maggiolo (Santo Domingo, 1936-2021). Veloz Maggiolo served as the Dominican ambassador to Rome twice, in the 1960s and 1980s, and he published an article titled Italianos en la vida dominicana (in el Siglo, October 27, 2001), motivated in part by his own Italian heritage. In this article, Veloz Maggiolo examined the most illustrious Italians present in the Dominican Republic, lamenting the lack of studies on the subject, unlike the substantial research available on Arab immigration (especially Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian) and Chinese immigration, for which there are now notable monographs. The initial impetus from Veloz Maggiolo was enthusiastically embraced by Ambassador Andrea Canepari, who is no stranger to projects aimed at highlighting the Italian presence in the world, having previously promoted similar initiatives in the USA, first in Washington and then in Philadelphia. (In Washington, as First Secretary for Political Affairs and Relations with the United States Congress at the Italian Embassy, he edited the volume The Italian Legacy in Washington D.C.: Architecture, Design, Art and Culture, published by Skira in 2008; in Philadelphia, where he served as Consul General, he published The Italian Legacy in Philadelphia: History, Culture, People and Ideas, released by Temple University Press in 2021.) Another point of interest in this third volume published by Canepari concerns the inclusion of the Dominican migration case among those "other
Americas" that have previously been overlooked or even ignored in studies dedicated to the history of the significant transoceanic emigration from Italy between the 18th and 20th centuries. The vast Caribbean basin, with its two major islands (Cuba and Hispaniola, which includes a significant portion of the Dominican Republic), the Central American isthmus (stretching from Panama to Guatemala), and the South American countries bordering the Caribbean (Venezuela and Colombia) reveal the widespread nature of Italian migrations, leading to the formation of small communities that often left significant and sometimes surprising marks on the history of these countries. The volume, opened by an analytical introduction from the curator, is structured into five thematic sections: History; Architecture; Literature and Art; Economy and Science; Journalism, Law, and Society. Enriched by an extensive iconographic apparatus, it concludes with biographies of the authors and useful indexes of names and places. Each thematic section spans a broad chronological range, from Columbus’s arrival in Hispaniola in 1492 to the present day; however, as was inevitable, it ultimately focuses primarily on the 19th and 20th centuries, the two centuries of the great European, Italian, and Mediterranean transoceanic emigration to the Americas, including the Dominican Republic. The first section, dedicated to the history of the Italian presence, highlights the role played by Genoese merchants over the centuries, both here and elsewhere. It offers two studies conducted successfully in local archives regarding Italian immigration to Santo Domingo and in the southeast of the Republic (by Antonio J. Guerra Sánchez) and in the Cibao region, particularly in Puerto Plata and Santiago, between the 18th and 20th centuries (by Edwin Espinal Hernández). These studies indicate that, following the pioneering immigrants from Piedmont and Liguria who arrived during the 19th century, the largest number of Italians arriving between the 19th and 20th centuries came mainly from Campania and Calabria. Among the Calabrians, a particularly strong and cohesive migratory chain from Santa Domenica Talao is noted, particularly active in crafts and trade. Others arrived from nearby towns, such as Scalea and San Nicola Arcella. This section is followed by a chapter dedicated to ecclesiastical history, starting with the arrival of Alessandro Geraldini, the first resident bishop of Santo Domingo, in the early 16th century. Completing the historical section is a comprehensive chapter dedicated to political history, which pays significant attention to Giovanni Battista Cambiaso (Genoa, 1820-Santo Domingo, 1886), a Genoese merchant who founded the Dominican Navy, of which he was the first admiral, and who later became a hero of Dominican independence. Within the same political history context, the figure of Amadeo Barletta (San Nicola Arcella, Cosenza, 1894-Arroyo Hondo, Santo Domingo, 1975) is examined. Barletta became a successful entrepreneur in the Dominican Republic and later in Cuba as a representative of General Motors and a tobacco industrialist, and he also played a role in tumultuous political events. Barletta’s story is examined by Dominican historian Bernardo Vega, 16
who had actually been studying this character since the 1980s (cf. Bernardo Vega, Nazismo, Fascismo y Falangismo en la República Dominicana, Fundación Cultural Dominicana, Santo Domingo 1985, see index). In this new volume, Vega particularly highlights the conflict in 1935 between Amadeo Barletta and the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo over economic reasons, which led to Barletta’s imprisonment. This incident triggered an international crisis, prompting interventions from the United States and Italy, which even threatened military action—something the USA could not tolerate (for the complete migratory episode of Amadeo Barletta, see the biographical profile edited by Piero Di Giuseppe, published on January 15, 2021, for the Dizionario Biografico della Calabria contemporanea: https://www.icsaicstoria.it/barletta-amedeo/). The volume continues with an extensive chapter dedicated to architecture, covering both colonial and modern/contemporary architecture. This results in a broad overview, opened by a study of the Viceroyal Palace, built in the style of a Florentine palace to host the court of Diego Columbus, son of the navigator Christopher Columbus, who was appointed governor of Santo Domingo and the first viceroy of the newly discovered territories. Regarding modern architecture, significant attention is given to the figure of the engineer of Apulian origin, Guido D’Alessandro (Bovino, Foggia, 1895-Santo Domingo, 1954), who was trained at the Polytechnic University of Turin. In 1926, he was called to Santo Domingo by entrepreneur Amadeo Barletta, who at the time was also the Consul General of Italy in the Dominican Republic. D’Alessandro would go on to design the imposing neoclassical National Palace (1939-1947), which serves as the seat of the Dominican government. The next topic addresses the Italian presence in literature and art, commencing with a study by Danilo Manera on Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, the intellectual who first emphasized the need to reconstruct the history of Italian immigration in the Dominican Republic. Veloz Maggiolo, himself of Italian heritage—specifically Ligurian on his maternal side—is regarded as the most important and versatile author in Dominican literature. He was a poet, storyteller, essayist, painter, politician, and diplomat. Other sections are dedicated to the Italian legacy in sculpture, music, and cinema. The final chapters focus on the Italian presence in the Dominican economy, Italian or Italian-origin journalists, and the legal system. Lastly, the biographical profile of Angiolino Vicini Trabucco (Zoagli, Genoa, 1880-Santo Domingo, 1960) is highlighted. He reached Santo Domingo in 1896 to join relatives who had already emigrated and became a successful entrepreneur, particularly active in real estate. A handwritten testimony from Vicini Trabucco, who maintained close ties with Italy throughout his life, is also published.
Original contribution available on:
4. Bellunesi nel Mondo, Year LIX - No. 7, 2024, pp. 16-17.
Promoted, curated, and edited by Andrea Canepari, former Italian ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 2017 to 2021, in collaboration with Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, this substantial volume showcases, through the writings of scholars, intellectuals, politicians (including contributions from Italian authorities), economists, artists, and others, the strong presence and influence of Italy in the distant Caribbean Republic. The book particularly highlights important figures in various fields—ranging from state organization, the Church, art, the economy, literature, and law—who have made Italy's influence felt since the country’s formation. Many of these individuals held prestigious positions within the Dominican Republic's civil and military institutions. Special attention is given to ecclesiastical figures, beginning with Alessandro Geraldini (1455-1524), the first bishop of Santo Domingo, and his successors. The excellent relations between the two countries, strengthened by key figures from institutions, the economy, and culture, are a recurring theme throughout the book. The editorial design and photographic content are of notable quality and effort. This book uncovers a rich chapter of Italy’s legacy overseas.
Original contribution available on: https://www.bellunesinelmondo.it/in-anteprima-bellunesi-nel-mondo-n-7-luglio-agosto-2024/
6. Rivista Marittima, june 2024.
The large wave of Italian emigration to the American continent, particularly between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, is well known to many. When reflecting on this event, the focus often immediately shifts to the significant flow of Italians who sought fortune in the United States and Argentina. Much less known, however, are the stories of Italians who emigrated to other American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. This distinguished publication, curated by Ambassador Canepari, Italy’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Dominican Republic, and prefaced by prominent figures like Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic; Luigi Di Maio, former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Carmen Heredia de Guerrero, Dominican Minister of Culture; and Dario Franceschini, then Italy’s Minister of Culture, as well as Dominican and Italian diplomats and high-ranking officials, has been compiled by academics and researchers from both nations. It finally brings to light a significant chapter of national and international history that has long been overlooked. Through the detailed research conducted by a broad team of scholars and experts, this work allows both academics and the general public to retrace the history and experiences of the Italian immigrant communities in the 18
Dominican Republic. After a meticulous historical reconstruction of the origins and development of the Italian community in the region and an analysis of the Dominican Republic’s history and its relations with Italy, the essays within Canepari’s edited volume explore the enduring influence of Italian immigrants, whose descendants continue to play a pivotal role in the country’s development today. The book goes beyond simply highlighting the most visible artifacts left in Santo Domingo by Italians and their descendants, offering significant attention to the cultural fusion between Italy and the Dominican Republic through literature, the economy, and other public activities. Italy’s legacy, however, endures not only through artistic and economic contributions but also through journalism, the legal profession, and other noteworthy roles within Dominican society. This extensive collection of essays provides readers with a rich trove of information about a series of national, and indeed transnational, historical events that have largely remained unknown to the wider public. Yet these events are worthy of the attention of anyone interested in Italian emigration. At the same time, the book offers a comprehensive overview of how this migration has shaped— and continues to shape—the culture, economy, and society of Santo Domingo.
Original contribution forthcoming.
7. Olimpia Niglio, Università di Pavia, forthcoming.
talian emigration is characterized by a multi-century history that traces its origins back to the conquest of the New World. These narratives differ significantly from the more recent stories we are accustomed to considering because, since the time of conquest, many Italians arriving on overseas shores were primarily associated with religious orders or in service of the Spanish Crown. Numerous instances of Italian industriousness in these newly acquired lands left significant traces, particularly in the numerous convent settlements and churches constructed from the late 16th century along the principal routes of Spanish and Portuguese expansion. Notable figures from Italian architectural and engineering culture, who also served the Spanish Crown, were, of course, not absent. From the mid-19th century, the entire Caribbean region became notable for the presence of numerous Italian families, many of whom hailed from Liguria, particularly Genoa, including families such as the Trabucco, Vicini Canepa, and Cambiaso, among others. In reality, Italian emigration has a long and complex history, with a tradition closely tied to the economic characteristics of the territories with higher migratory flows. Even before the unification of Italy, migratory patterns toward the New World were evident, although they were more limited and unfortunately poorly documented. Political exiles, wars, famines, itinerant work, and economic depression were undoubtedly the main causes that, since the medieval period, generated continuous
migratory movements, which over time expanded first toward Central and Northern Europe and then primarily toward the lands of the New World. Focusing on the events of the pre-unification period in Italy, the reasons for the mass departure of Italians from their homelands were primarily linked to a lack of job opportunities. Consequently, there was a significant movement of skilled labor, even though this expertise was often applied in low-skilled contexts. This practice was particularly common when this labor was directed to countries in Latin America, where Italian ingenuity found a foothold precisely because there was much to accomplish and construct, and nothing was given by chance. Alongside economic factors, more dramatic reasons, such as political or religious issues, also played a role. The latter particularly affected the first half of the 20th century, but the history of Spain illustrates that political exiles and those persecuted for religious reasons (such as Jews) had indeed played a role in conquering the New World. The port of Genoa became an important emigration hub from the early 19th century, and studying the history of the Italian Risorgimento is fundamental for understanding the subsequent geographies of Italian expatriates, who followed established routes, particularly in Latin America, blazed by legendary figures such as Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and Giuseppe Garibaldi. These factors were crucial motivations for the individual states most affected by migratory flows to begin taking measures even before the unification of Italy, initiating agreements with destination countries. We can observe this as the beginning of diplomatic policies, first implemented by the Kingdom of Savoy through the signing of treaties of friendship, trade, and navigation with various Latin American nations. During this same period, specifically in 1852, Mr. Raffaele Rubattino established in Genoa the first Transatlantic Steam Navigation Company, which primarily focused on migration routes to the southern part of the American continent, specifically Brazil and Argentina. Although the Transatlantic Company had a brief existence, concluding in 1857 due to financial bankruptcy, this did not interrupt the ever-increasing flow of Italians looking across the ocean. This introduction is fundamental for presenting the content of a truly commendable work curated by Andrea Canepari, an Italian diplomat who served as Consul General in Philadelphia from 2013 to 2017, as Ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 2017 to 2021, and is currently with the General Directorate for Country Promotion at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome. The volume, titled “The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic: History, Architecture, Economy, and Society,” published by Allemandi in 2021 in both Italian and Spanish editions, and the English version published by Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in the same year, facilitates an analysis and understanding of the essence of Italian creativity and culture manifested across various sectors, building significant bridges between Italy and the Dominican Republic, where Italian immigration has contributed to creating opportunities for development and international dialogue.
The volume begins with institutional prefaces from the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; the Minister of Culture, Carmen Heredia; the Mayor of the National District, Carolina Mejía; the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Luigi Di Maio; the former Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities of the Italian Republic, Dario Franceschini; the Secretary-General of IIla-International Italian-Latin American Organization, Antonella Cavallari; the President of the Dominican Academy of History, José Chez Checo; and the Director General of DGMO MAECI, Luca Sabbatucci. Five extensive sections encompass forty-five chapters written by authoritative Italian and foreign scholars, alongside contributions from prominent figures discussing both the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Italy and Italy's influence within the Caribbean nation. This includes remarks from the Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Raquel Peña; the President of the Constitutional Court, Milton Ray Guevara; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Alvarez; the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Ito Bisonó; the Minister of Defense, Carlos Luciano Díaz Morfa; and the Minister of Culture, Carmen Heredia. The five sections, dedicated to history, architecture, literature and art, economy and science, as well as journalism, law, and social studies, trace the significant milestones of the interaction between the Dominican Republic and Italian culture, which has expressed itself in various domains, contributing to an invaluable heritage that is now preserved and appreciated by the local community. The volume has uncovered an incredible wealth of previously unknown legacies, with roots tracing back to the explorations of Christopher Columbus, continuing through the great emigration of the 19th and 20th centuries, and reaching to the present day. As Andrea Canepari states, “...I felt like an archaeologist confronting marvelous and pristine testimonies, although concealed by the passage of time, that needed to be rediscovered and brought to light like an ancient temple hidden in the forest. Unlike an archaeological discovery, what has been found and revealed here is not a dead ruin but a living ensemble of cultural, political, religious, educational, economic, technological, and social footprints that still constitute one of the cornerstones of the cultural identity of the Dominican Republic, in which Italians feel firmly integrated.” The great wealth of heritage presented in the volume has been further enriched by a virtual exhibition available at this link: https://kuula.co/share/7gqby/collection/7Pdlg? fs=1&vr=1&sd=1&initload=0&thumbs=1&info=0&logo=0, as well as physical exhibitions held in November 2021 at Venaria Reale and subsequently at the Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa, featuring an exhibition titled “Italian Presence in Santo Domingo from the Mid-1800s to Today,” which was displayed in December 2021. Many digital in-depth studies have also focused on the main Italian families that emigrated to Santo Domingo and prominent figures, such as Father Giovanni Francesco Fantino Falco (Borgo San Dalmazzo, Cuneo, May 26, 1867-La Vega, 21
Dominican Republic, July 4, 1939), chaplain of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy in Santo Cerro. Many of these families primarily came from Piedmont, Lombardy, and Liguria, and their contributions were noteworthy and vital for the development of the arts, economy, and education. Finally, it is interesting to note that, in an effort to engage younger audiences with this cultural heritage, a comic book has been developed (https://ciaosantodomingo.com/album-de-4historietas/) that introduces readers to important figures from modern and contemporary history who have contributed to the cultural and economic growth of this beautiful Caribbean island. Therefore, we invite the reader to explore this extraordinary volume curated by Andrea Canepari to revisit significant chapters of Italian history in the Dominican Republic, thereby reconnecting with a heritage born of Italian genius and creativity.
Original contribution forthcoming.