Highlights

A 2022 study confirmed that Italians have the right approach to life. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development promotes policies that improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. In a study of 22 countries, Italy scored 9.4 out of 10 on the OECD Better Life Index in the category of work-life balance. That is the highest of all the participating countries. The OECD’s BLI is calculated by aggregating 11 key dimensions of well-being, each measured by several indicators. Those dimensions are income, jobs, housing, health, education, social connections, civic engagement, environment, safety and life satisfaction, …

Tucked in the corner of an unassuming monastic church, the Brancacci Chapel helped give birth to a style of painting that held sway for centuries. The shabby exterior of the monastic church of S. Maria del Carmine in Florence looks so unpromising that visitors might be tempted to walk right past it. But if they do, they’ll miss one of the city’s greatest treasures: the spot where Renaissance painting was born. Inside, in the right transept, is a chapel endowed in the mid-1300s by a family of wealthy silk merchants named Brancacci. It was dedicated to St. Peter, the name-saint …

Cara Zia, Our mother’s health is failing, and she needed to be moved from assisted living to a nursing home. She transferred to a dementia unit soon after, since her mental capacity is also rapidly declining. I live three hours away, and my other siblings are on opposite sides of the country. I visit her often but am getting burned out and could use some help. My sister doesn’t have any real money so as executor, I offered to have the estate pay for her airfare. She said she would rather wait until the holidays. My brother says he is …

At the 10:30 a.m. Mass with my parents at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Narragansett, Rhode Island, in August, I noticed the empty pew where Judge Frank Caprio had long sat with his family. Knowing his deep Catholic faith and his battle with pancreatic cancer, I feared the worst. On Aug. 20, his family announced his passing at age 88. I interviewed Judge Caprio in the summer of 2023. It wasn’t our first meeting, but it was the first time I was welcomed into his home. I was nervous to enter the world of a man who was …

He was born Jewish, became a priest, fathered seven children and was tried and found guilty of vice. He was a poet, playwright, linguist, professor, opera impresario and grocer. He lived in Venice, London and Vienna, but spent the last 30 years of his life in New York, where he became an American citizen. He knew Casanova, Mozart and Salieri and dined with James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Washington Irving. His portrait was painted by the code-developer Samuel Morse. Thousands attended his funeral, but no one knows where his grave is. He is Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, …

We owe you one. In fact, we owe you so much more than that. When we asked you in July to help us raise $28,000 to technologically transform Fra Noi, we knew what it would cost to make the leap but we only dreamed we’d be able to cover it with a single crowdfunding campaign. Two months and more than 250 contributions later, we’ve not only met our lofty goal but also exceeded it because of your astonishing generosity. In sums large and small, your contributions surged in like a strong backwind. The grand total billowed beyond $30,000, with more …

In 2020, the graffiti-marred statue of Christopher Columbus in Arrigo Park was unceremoniously yanked from its pedestal and stored on its back in a Chicago Park District warehouse. After a protracted legal battle, the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans was finally able to win its release earlier this year, but only on the condition that it be showcased indoors in a museum that’s currently being created on Taylor Street. So, who will now occupy the position of honor that Columbus once held in that storied public park just a stone’s throw away from the Shrine of Our Lady of …

As a driving force behind the American Friends of Capodimonte, Cristina Del Sesto has helped increase stateside awareness and support for “Europe’s least-known great museum.” Creating wider public access to the Capodimonte Museum has been the opportunity of a lifetime, says Cristina Del Sesto. Located in Naples and boasting more than 47,000 works of art spanning the Middle Ages to the 21st century, the museum was described as “Europe’s least-known great museum” in a Financial Times article in 2023. Del Sesto serves on the board of American Friends of Capodimonte (including just over one term as president until earlier this …

Our family histories play a crucial role in shaping who we are today. They serve as a powerful reminder of our roots, the hardships our ancestors overcame and the resilience that defines a community. By embracing these rich legacies, we not only pay tribute to their struggles but also commit to keeping their stories alive for future generations. At precisely 1 p.m. on Nov. 30, 1896, a devastating tragedy unfolded at the Gilorma grain mill, just a few kilometers from the town of Alessandria del Carretto along the Saraceno River in the province of Cosenza. A sudden landslide had blocked …

Bracketing the northeast corner of Italy, the Dolomites are known for breathtaking vistas that make it an alluring wedding destination. Each year, 2.2 million Americans visit Italy. Of course, we haven’t spoken to all of them, but our informal survey tells us that many of them never heard of the Dolomites and even fewer would be able to point them out on a map. Nonetheless, the Dolomite mountain range, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world. During World War I, Italy and Austria fought over the Tyrolian region, a section of …