Luigi Antonini was a garment industry
leader in the early part of the 20th century in New York City. He
was born in Vallata Irpina, in the province of Avellino in 1883. His father,
Pietro Valeriano Antonini was a school teacher. His mother, Maria Francesca
Netta was a poetess and of noble birth. Antonini received an education
equivalent to that of an American high school. Upon completing his education,
he served in the Italian army and became an expert fencer. In 1908 he
immigrated to the U.S. landing in New York, and established it as his new home.
During his first few years after
immigrating he held various jobs and eventually acquired a position in the
garment industry. He became a member of the newly formed ILGWU, The
International Ladies Garment Workers Union. As a result he became a
distinguished orator and dynamic leader for the working class. He made his
debut as a public figure by his involvement in the Waistmakers’ general strike
of 1914.
In 1916, he became the editor of
the Italian periodical, “L’Operaia,”
(The Worker). It was through these efforts that he founded the Italian Dress
and Waistmakers’ Union Local 39. This local had twenty-thousand members, the
largest under the ILGWU. The total membership of it was four-hundred and
fifty-thousand.
Since the Italian local was the
single largest unit, Antonini became the Vice-President of the larger union.
This position pressed him into influential political circles. As a result he
became a leader for Italian Americans in more issues than in labor. In 1935 he
represented the American Labor movement in Brussels, Belgium, and in 1939
attended the Pan-American Congress for Democracy in Montevideo, Paraguay.
Prior to the beginning of the WWII,
he was vociferous against fascism, and his local ILGWU union fully supported
the war against Italy. Throughout the hostilities he served on the appeals
board of the selective service in Westchester County, New York.
In 1944 the American Federation of
Labor (AFL), chose him to go to Italy as a member of the Anglo-American Trade
Union Committee to advise Italians in rebuilding bona fide labor unions. While
there, he served to help rebuild Italy and during this service he founded an
orphanage in Palermo, Sicily and named it after President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt.
His activities put him in contact
with Italian Presidents such as De Nicola, Gronchi, and Einaudi, along with
many other political figures of Italy. In 1951 he led a good will tour of Italy
and Israel. In Haifa, a major port city in Israel, the community held him in
such high regard they named a recently built sports stadium after him. While he
was abroad, the Republic of Italy, the City of Trieste, the province of Sicily
and the country of San Marino recognized him by awarding him medals for his
achievements.
When he returned home he became the
chairman of the AFL-CIO Committee of Greater New York. Antonini founded the Four Freedoms Awards, issued by the
Italian American’s Labor Council. He created this citation to honor meritorious
services rendered by individuals to the cause of liberty throughout the world.
In 1943 United States Attorney General Francis Biddle was the first recipient.
Biddle was important to the Italian Americans and Italian aliens for he
declared on October 12, 1942 that restrictions against “enemy aliens” would no longer
pertain to “Italian aliens.” Other honorees for the award included Presidents
Roosevelt and Truman.
On his eightieth birthday, in 1963
Mayor Robert Wagner presented Luigi with the key to the city of New York. Antonini
continued to be involved in many labor activities throughout the 50s and 60s,
continuing as Vice-President of the Union, until 1967. He died the following
year.
