Dear Readers:
In Cerca di Una Nuova Vita from Italy to California (Italian Immigration: 1850 to today) is the name of a special exhibit being presented by the Museo ItaloAmericano(Fort Mason Center, Building C, San Francisco, CA 94123, Tel. (415)673-2200, free admission, Tue. through Sunday 12-4 pm, museoitaloamericano.org) in celebration of the first 30 years of its existence.
The exhibit opened October 16, 2009 and will close January 17, 2010. Please make a notation on your calendar right now to visit this special exhibit at the Museo ItaloAmericano before it clos- es. In Cerca di Una Nuova Vita documents the experience of Italian immigrants to California. Italian immigration to California can be seen as occurring in three waves. The first and largest wave, brought about by extreme poverty in the newly unified Italy, took place between 1850 and 1924.
Before 1880, however, overseas migration was a relatively uncommon event for Italians. During those years most emigrants were either political refugees, merchants escaping the uncertain conditions after the liberal revolution of 1830 and 1848, missionaries, or people from the province of Genova, a port city with a long history of overseas migration. International migration gained momentum after 1875. Initially most Italian emigrants set sail for South America, but during the 1880s an increasing number came to the U.S. During the first wave Italians immi- grated to California predominantly from five regions of Italy: Tuscany, Liguria, Sicily, Calabria and Piemonte.
The second and smallest wave, lim- ited by the U.S. Immigration Act of 1924 and World War II, was made up primarily of mid- dle class Italians, whose comfortable lives had been destroyed by Italy’s collapse. It also included a number of Jews escaping Italy’s racial laws of the 1930s. The third wave, a trickle really, began in 1965, when amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act ended quotas based on nationality. This third wave, in larger numbers began around 1970 and continues today.
This wave has played a big role in California’s high tech revolution. California’s Italian pioneers, via great photos and artifacts at the exhibit of first and second waves of immigration and their success in various industries, food processing, banking, agriculture, fishing, etc. are well chronicled but the third wave of immigrants, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs and explorers included in the exhibit curated by journalist Paolo Pontoniere, introduces us to a new breed of Italian immigrants to California we can all be proud of.
The Third Wave, authored by Paolo Pontoniere in the exhibit catalog informs us that “This third wave did not come West because they were trying to escape economic hardship or political persecution. They came here because they not only felt accepted, but cherished having found the only place that had everything they needed to realize their vision. He also notes that the microchipis a product of Italian creativity. The biotechnology industry owes much to a young Calabrian with fresh ideas.
Some of Wall Street’s major players, such as Cisco, Genetech, Logitech, Qualcomm, and Intel, have benefited greatly from the innovative thinking of Italians. You will actually “meet” the people in person via touch screen at the exhibit, but till then, let me give you a brief preview of some of the 32 Italian immigrants who have arrived in California since 1970, interviewed and photographed by journalist Paolo Pontoniere, that you will “meet” at the Museo ItaloAmericano exhibit: Luisa Bozanohas a PhD in physics from UC Santa Cruz.
She is a research scientist at IBM Almaden Research Center working on developing methods for making self-assembling molecular electronics. Luca Cavalli-Sforzahas a degree in medicine from University of Pavia. One of the most renowned living geneticist, he is considered the father of demographical genetics. He first discussed his theories on human genetics in Genes, Peoples, and Languages. Isabella and Ugo Conti exert the quintessential nature of Italian explorers.
This Roman husband-wife duo returned to San Francisco in 1978 after a three and a half year sailing adventure around the world. With a degree in Electronic Engineering from Universitá di Roma La Sapienza and a PhD in Geophysics from UC Berkeley, for Ugo, and a degree in Law from the University of Rome and a degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley, for Isabella, this duo has penned a number of sailing biopics, holds several patents in the field of geophysical explorations and has invented Proteus, a new class of naval vessel currently under consid- eration by the US Navy.
Federico Fagginhas a PhD in physics from the University of Padova and is one of the best known Italian physicists and electrical engineers in the world. He is the inventor of the chip 404, which started the age of the personal computer. Inventor of the touch pad and of CYGNET COSYSTEM personal telecommunications device, he is founder of many hi-tech companies, most recently FAVEON.
Alessandra Franco has M.D. and PhD degrees from Universitá di Roma La Sapienza. Leading researcher in the field of immunology, cancer vaccines and T-cell recognition, she is on the faculty of UC San Diego School of Medicine. Federico Rampini is a journalist, writer and economist.
He is a Reporter for La Repubblica, first from California and now from China. He has written a num- ber of bestsellers and has won the Saint Vincent Prize for journalistic reporting. Laura Soucekholds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Universitá di Roma La Sapienza. She is a leading researcher in oncology at UCSF, developer of OMOMYC, a protein able to turn cancerous growth factors off.
We are running out of space, so you will not be “meeting” here Michele Libraro, Marco Marinucci, Lucio Gomiero, Luciano Chessa, Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli, Andrea Viterbi, Enzo Torresi, Diego Ventura, Carlo Di Ruocco, Michele Ursino, Donato Scotti, Anna Gatti, Roberto Crea, Dario Riccardo Valenzano, Bianca Delle Piane, Fabrizio Capobianco, Ezio Valdevit, Enrico Beltramini, Enza Sebastiani, Luca Prasso, Lorenzo Scarpone, Gianpaolo Callioni, Giacomo Marini, Vittorio Viarengo, but as you can see Italians are always navigating toward the future. The world of discovery did not end with Columbus. “Help Save the Earth, it is the only planet with Italians…”
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