An American Professor in Italy

By Tony Tripodi

An American Professor in Italy is about an American professor of Italian descent who recounts his travels in Italy as a Fulbright Scholar, program evaluator for the European Common Market, tourist, and owner of an Italian timeshare. He reflects on Italian Culture and its stereotypes, and shares impressions of Italians in poignant and humorous anecdotes. Throughout the book he conveys a strong sense of pride and love for Italy and its Italians.

Dr. Tripodi discovers his Italian roots and describes a wide range of experiences in 52 vignettes and several poems concerned with topics such as these: his mother's house in Italy, the church his grandfather built, a conversation with Anna Maria Levi, sister of world-famous author Primo Levi, an Italian lover, the seductive city of Venice, the Jewish Ghetto, the University of Padova, Michelangelo in Rome and Florence, La Scala di Milano, and Juliet's balcony in Verona.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475916874

Tony Tripodi

Dr. Tony Tripodi is a former Dean and now professor emeritus of the Ohio State University. He is series editor of Pocket Guides to Social Work Research Methods, Oxford University Press.

Book preview

Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

San Pietro

Apostolo

The House

The Street

The Church

Tre Punti

Firenze (Florence)

Firenze

David in Fiesole

An Italian Lover

Un Assagio di Gelato (A Taste of Gelato)

The Uniqueness of Firenze

Roma (Rome)

The Wonder of Rome

A Fulbright Award to Italy

An Italian School of Social Work

Michelangelo in Rome

The Lido of Ostia

Padova (Padua)

Padova

The University of Padova

La Chiesa di Sant’ Antonio (The Church of St. Anthony)

St. Anthony

La Fondazione Emannuela Zancan (The Zancan Emannuela Foundation)

Malosco

The Town of Malosco

A Daily Routine

Meals at Malosco

The Monsignor and the Secretary

Seminar Participants

Napoli (Naples)

The City of Napoli

Christina Visits Napoli

A Tour of the Environs of Napoli

A Program of Social Medicine

Venezia (Venice)

Venezia

Piazza San Marco

The Campanile of San Marco

The Seductive City

The Jewish Ghetto

Neighboring Islands to Venezia

Sardinia, Assissi, Taormina, and Cortina d’Ampezzo

Time Shares In Italy

Sardinia (Sardegna)

Assissi

Taormina

Cortina d’ Ampezzo

Celle Su Rigo, San Casciano dei Bagni

Celle Su Rigo

Flavors of Tuscany

Il Poggio

Bugs on the Wall

Views that Inspire Poetry

Hills

Sunset

Fonte Verde

The Spa

Milano and Verona

La Scala di Milano

The Last Supper (La Cena Ultima)

The Train Station

The Amphitheatre of Verona

Juliet’s Balcony

Gagliano (Basilicata), Ferrara, and Cortona

Gagliano

Ferrara

Cortona

Epilogue

Bibliography

Dedication

To my parents, Christina and Nicola Tripodi

Acknowledgements

I am especially thankful for the insights of Anna Maria Levi, sister of the famous author Primo Levi, for sharing her vision of the plight of Jews in Italy; the kindness of Professors Vian and Bernardi of the Department of Statistics, University of Padova; the wisdom of Monsignor Nervo and Thea Paganin of the Zancan Foundation, Padova; the participation of Valentina Fanton and Floriana Nicole in research seminars held in Malosco, Italy; and my cousin Vincenzo Grandinetti’s observations about San Pietro Apostolo.

In addition I am thankful for stories about Italy from my mother, Christina Tripodi, sister, Philomena Halstead, and cousin, Ernie Waite. And, I thank Maria Cristina Young for her typing of the manuscript, and Karen Randolph for her continued support.

Prologue

In 1973 at the age of 41 I received a Fulbright Award to serve as a senior lecturer in Italy. It was the first opportunity I had to visit the land where my parents were born.

Over the years I visited the house in which my mother lived, inspected with my cousin and others the church built by my grandfather, published an Italian book on program evaluation with professor Lorenzo Bernardi of the University of Padova, evaluated a program of social medicine near Napoli for the European Common Market, purchased a time share apartment in Celle su Rigo, and toured in many different venues.

An American Professor in Italy is a book about my reflections of Italian culture based on personal experiences and the sights and sounds of Italy. In the book I strive to share my impressions of Italy and its Italians.

Observations are presented in 52 brief vignettes and a few poems that cover a range of topics such as these: San Pietro Apostolo, (my mother’s birth place), An Italian Lover, The Uniqueness of Firenze,The University of Padova, The Campanile of San Marco, The Seductive City, The Jewish Ghetto, Views that Inspire Poetry, La Scala di Milano, and Juliet’s Balcony.

As a rule, Italians are not mobsters, nor are they simply fun-loving people. They cover a range of emotions from deep-seated passion to outrage of social injustices to tender love of their children. Italians are intelligent, creative, artistic, musical, and adept problem solvers. Their contributions from antiquity in Rome and Magna Grecia to the geniuses of the Renaissance to the present day are truly remarkable.

There is no doubt that I am proud of my Italian heritage. In An American Professor in Italy, I endeavor to describe my work and travel through the lens of childhood and adult memories and perceptions. I hope the reader will gain a sense of my Italian pride, the love of Italy, and its people.

San Pietro

Apostolo

San Pietro Apostolo is a small town in the province of Calabria, Italy, where my mother Christina was born. An immigrant in the early 1900’s, she sailed to America to become the wife of Frank Torchia, another immigrant who had previously departed San Pietro Apostolo to work in Ithaca, New York. Many other Italians left the town during those years due to poverty, famine and better job opportunities in other lands.

My mother’s marriage was arranged by her family. It was ill-fated. She conceived three children, ran a boarding house, and suffered from an abusive and alcoholic husband.

Approximately ten years later, she divorced Frank, moved away with her three children, married my father, Nicola Tripodi, and moved to Sacramento, California, where I, Tony Tripodi, was born.

When I was a little boy, Christina took me on long walks to the American river. She picked edible mushrooms, a habit cultivated in Italy, and told me about her life in San Pietro Apostolo.

She washed clothes in a river, either the fiume Amato (river amato) or the fiume Corace (river Corace). She performed a variety of chores such as gardening, cooking,and cleaning. She apparently adored her father and was saddened when she left Italy. Christina missed her house and the church her father built.

More than half a century later, many years after Nicola (1941) and Christina (1959) had passed and were put to rest at St. Mary’s

cemetery in Sacramento, I had an opportunity to visit San Pietro Apostolo. On sabbatical from the University of Michigan, I was a visiting scholar at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England, and was working on a project for the European Common Market. Having just completed a project near Napoli, I decided to visit my cousin Vincenzo in

San Pietro Apostolo.

San Pietro Apostolo is in an area of the Aspromonte Mountains. It contains approximately 2,000 inhabitants. My cousin Vincenzo was a geometer (surveyor) and was involved in construction. When we walked on the streets, it seemed like people were curious about the American with Vincenzo. I, in turn, was eager to see the house in which my mother lived and the church built by my grandfather.

Vincenzo was extremely curious about me and my work for the common market. It appeared that he was wondering whether I was sent to evaluate him. Nevertheless, he was friendly and hospitable, introducing me to the town