GENERAL ANTHONY ZINNI

 

In an issue of National Italian American Federation (NIAF), in the section on, “Affiliate News to Use,” the magazine presented a short news quip concerning a fellow Italian American. General Zinni, a four-star general who retired in July 2000 after nearly 40 years of service. He was head of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, from 1997 to 2000, a position that included responsibility for twenty-five countries, ranging from the Horn of Africa and Egypt to the Arabian Peninsula and Central Asia. After retiring, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell named him special advisor in the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Zinni was born on the September 17, 1943 in Consohocken, Pennsylvania, where he lived during his formative years. His parents immigrated to the United States from Italy. His father gained citizenship by serving in the U.S. military. Many other members of the family had also been in the military both in the U.S. and abroad. The General attributes much of his orientation to military life from the fascinating stories he heard from family members.

For his higher education he attended Villanova University. On his first day on campus he saw the U. S. Marine Corp ROTC recruiting kiosk; he went to it and listened to their presentation. It stimulated an interest in him to enroll in their program.  It was a training course in Platoon leadership and would take place during the summers off campus. He attended and successfully completed the course and upon graduation from the University received the commission of second lieutenant.

After graduation he did two tours in Vietnam; his first ended from suffering serious cases of malaria, hepatitis, and mononucleosis. His second tour terminated due to wounds received in combat.

In an interview, following his experiences in Vietnam, he revealed many different things he learned. Those things concerned; the health of the soldiers, the use of and types of personal equipment needed by them, their training requirements, the impact of tour lengths and deployment techniques.

His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; the Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; the Bronze Star with Combat 'V' and gold star in lieu of a second award; the Purple Heart; the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star; the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat 'V' and gold star; Navy Achievement Medal with gold star; the Combat Action Ribbon; and personal decorations from South Vietnam, France, Italy, Egypt, Kuwait, Yemen and Bahrain.

In regard to his appointment by Colin Powell as special advisor, no one was surprised given his qualifications. He has served in the Near East region for almost a decade, including four years as an U.S. military commander. The former General knows the area well. To prepare for his duties as head of the U.S. Central Command, Zinni studied Arabic and Middle East history and politics. During his career he attended The Basic School of Army Special Warfare, The Amphibious Warfare School, The Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and The National War College. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, and master’s degree in management and supervision, and international relations. Also see http://generalzinni.homestead.com/Zinni_Bio.html.

CONSTANTINO BRUMIDI

 

Constantino Brumidi (1805-1877) was one of the early Italian immigrants to this country, arriving in 1852. He was born and lived in Rome. His father was Greek, Stauro Brumidi, and his mother Italian, Anna Maria Bianchini. He studied at the Italian Academy of Arts, and he worked at the Vatican to restore works of art along with Domenico Tojetti (See a following article). In 1832 at the age of twenty-seven, Brumidi married a widow, Maria Covaluzzi.  They had a daughter, Maria Elena Assunta Fortunata. Unfortunately, five years later Maria and his mother died within ten months of each other. The following year he married again, to Anna Rovelli, they had a son, Giuseppe Antonio Raffaello. In 1852 he left Rome, leaving his wife and two children, a ten and a twenty year old behind. In 1860, Brumidi married an American by the name of Lola Germon. The literature indicates he had a continuing relationship with Elena.

It appears he was seeking political refuge when he came to the United States. In any event, he became an U.S. citizen two years after his arrival. Brumidi is famous for what many consider to be the greatest interior decorative art in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. He began his work in 1855 and continued for 25 years, almost until his death.

His work was not without controversy. When he received the commission to do the decorative work for the Capitol, Know-Nothing-ism was in its heyday and many of the supporters of this philosophy did not want any foreigners to even compete for the position. Some were critical in terms of his work as not being “republic,” that is, not simplistic; it was too ornate. Nevertheless, others recognized him as an excellent artist and the U.S. Government employed him to do the artwork in the Capitol.

In the twenty-five year period that he worked, Brumidi painted scores of frescoes. Three works that are the most noteworthy are: The Apotheosis (glorification of George Washington), which appears in the Capitol dome Rotunda; paintings on the walls of the Senate corridor, also known as the Brumidi Corridor, and the frieze of the Capitol dome. His untimely death prevented completion of the frieze. Beforehand, he had completed the drawings of epic events in American history for the rest of the frieze, which were: the landing of Columbus, William Penn’s treaty with the Indian, the great battles of the Revolution, the discovery of gold in California, and more. He also did other paintings and frescoes in the House of Representatives Chambers, in many committee rooms, in the President’s Room, in the Senate Reception Room and numerous others in the Capitol building.

It is reported that upon arriving in America, he said, “I have no longer any desire for fame or fortune. My one ambition and my daily prayers are that I may live long enough to make beautiful, the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty.”

The truth to that is questionable; however, we do have an indication of his pride in being a citizen of the United States, since in his painting,   Cornwallis Sues for Cessation of Hostilities Under the Flag of Truce, he signed it with C. Brumidi, Artist, Citizen of the U.S.

His reputation waxed and waned over the years, in fact, for more than one hundred years his grave in Washington was unmarked and unadorned. One would not know of him or his work unless one visited the Capitol or read books about the construction and development of the Capitol building.

One day while working on the frieze of major events in American history in the Capitol dome, he slipped on the scaffolding and clung to it for 20 minutes until someone arrived to help him. He was never able to do any more work and died four months later on February 19, 1880. He had completed thirty-five percent of the frieze. Filippo Costaggini, an artist from Rome, continued it, using Brumidi’s sketches, except for a thirty-two-foot section, of which there was an earlier miscalculation. Costaggini applied to congress to finish it, but he died before Congress could act. Muralist for three corridors of the House Representatives, Allyn Cox completed the frieze in 1953.

THE CITY OF VENEZIA

 

Venice, the Italian name being Venezia and the Latin, Venexia, is the capital of the region of Veneto. The region has an approximate population of 270,000 people and the city itself around 62,000.  The city is located at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea and consists of the mainland, called Terrafirma, (firm land) and 118 islands, with 150 canals in a shallow lagoon and 400 bridges. The Italians built a causeway from the mainland to Venice in 1930, under the administration of Benito Mussolini. One can now travel to the city by train or car. However, any further travel is by foot or boat. The Venetian community is a part of the islands stretching from the Po River estuary to the city

Venice is the largest urban- car-free area in Europe. The most famous form of traveling in Venice is by Gondola, but this form of travel is limited to tourists, funerals, and other ceremonies. People, who live and work there, travel by a vaporetto (similar to a city bus) or a traghetto, a large foot passenger ferry that crosses the Grand Canal at certain locations. Interestingly, the name of the Rialto Bridge stretching over the Canal is a contraction of riva-alto, high bridge from shore to shore.

Some historians conjecture that the city developed from an influx of people fleeing from the invasions of German tribes, the Quadi and Marcomanni, to the estuary of the Po River, in the years of 166-168 AD. The legendary origins of the city relate that Roman refugees escaping from the Goths founded Venice in 422 AD.

 After the overthrow of the Roman defenses by the Goths in the fifth century, some fifty years later, Attila the Hun invaded Italy. However, the longest and most enduring conquerors were the Lombards, a German tribe who came in 568 and fought the Byzantines, the eastern Roman Empire legions, and took under their control many of the islands.  The original Italian name of the Lombards was Longobardi, meaning those of the long beards.

After the Lombards ceased their encroachment, a small strip island, Malamocco, in the Venetian lagoon, remained under Byzantine power. It was the seat of the local Byzantine governor, the Doge. In 811-827 AD the prestige of the new city increased significantly with the theft of the Evangelist St. Mark’s relics, from Myra, Turkey during the Ottoman Empire incursion.  The Saint was originally from Alexandria, Egypt. The people placed these relics in a recently built basilica. As the town developed and the Byzantine power declined an independent character emerged, leading to autonomy and eventual independence as a Maritime Republic she was La Serenissima Repúbblica Véneta.

 

LA SERENISSIMA REPÚBBLICA VÉNETA

 

The title to this extension is the Venetian dialect form, in Italian it is La Repubblica di Venezia. Serenissima means most serene and as a republic it existed from the eighth to the eighteenth century AD. Its beginnings as such were due to the fall of the Byzantine Empire. As it crumbled, Venice developed into a city-state or a marine republic during the ninth to the tenth century AD. Three other maritime republics were developing at the same time, Genoa, Amalfi, and Pisa. All became rivals of Venice and of each other.

Venice, in comparison to the others, was in a very unique position, the North end of the Adriatic Sea, which afforded it the opportunity to become a great land and sea power. She extended her holding to the North, East, West and South. The region Friuli-Venezia-Giulia till this day maintains the name of Venice in its descriptive label and to the West of Venice is a region called Veneto. The Republic of Venice extended west to Bergamo, south to the Po River, and north to what today is Austria and southeast to include the Peninsula of Istria, which today is part of Croatia.

As Venice expanded, she also acquired control of most of the islands in the Aegean Sea, including Cyprus and Crete. This they called the Duchy of the Archipelago. Venice was able to expand and become an imperial power by aiding in the Fourth Crusade 1201-1204 AD, whereby she accepted ships into her harbor from other cities and trained 33,500 soldiers and 3,500 horses for battle. Consequently, with her physical position on the Adriatic Sea, she also developed extensive trade with the Byzantines and the Moslems; thereby becoming the most prosperous city in Europe. During this time, Venice’s leading families vied with each other in building palaces, churches and other structures, creating a magnificent art filled city.

The Venetian government was, in some way, modeled after the republican form of government used in ancient Rome. It had an elected head of government, the Doge and an elected Senate, an assembly of nobles and many people of wealth.  The great council, consisted of up to two to three hundred individuals. This senate elected ten individuals who held the utmost power in administering the city; they were a secret group who were unknown to the population. This group selected one of their members as the Doge, who was a ceremonial head of city and held the position for life.

The religious circumstance of the people was orthodox Catholic in practice and belief. During the Counter Reformation period, even though the people were very devout, Venice had the recognition of having religious freedom and had not executed anyone for heresy. Due to their attitude the city had problems with the Popes and suffered an Interdict five times. (Interdict is a penalty imposed by the church that suspends public worship and withdraws the administering of the church’s sacraments from a country or territory.) The fifth one, imposed by Pope Julius II in 1509, is the most renowned.

When Napoleon conquered Venice on the twelfth of May 1797, it lost, after one-thousand and seventy years, its independence. Despite its reputation of religious freedom the Jews lived in ghettos and had other restrictions imposed on them. But when Napoleon came, he removed the restrictions against them and opened the doors of the Ghetto; thus, the Jews looked upon him as a liberator.

The Hebraic population traces its origins to their antecedent’s expulsion from Spain in 1492, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued, The Alhambra Decree or The Edict of Expulsion, on the thirty-first of March 1492. It expelled all Hebrews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and all Spanish lands. These expellees became Sephardim―Sefarad, which is the Hebrew word for Spain. Interestingly, a recent draft of a law has been presented to the Spanish Cortes Generales which seeks to allow any Jew demonstrating that they are descendants of these Sephardim can apply for and receive dual Spanish citizenship. (See http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/sephardic-jews-eager-to-apply-for-spanish-citizenship/2014/02/17/e56978dc-9810-11e3-ae45-458927ccedb6_story.html. Or www.jpost.com/Jewish/-World/Jewish-Feature/Spain-grants. )

After the fall of Napoleon, Venice came under the rule of the Austrian Empire until 1866, when a plebiscite held on the twenty-second of October of that year resulted in Venice becoming a part of the unified Italy.  Below are photographs of the Piazza San Marco, The Doge's Palace 1340, and the Ponte Rialto.