Profiles

Carla Bruni, a professor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago and preservation specialist for the Chicago Bungalow Association, loves everyday stuff that people don’t notice or find particularly interesting. That’s why she wanted to celebrate “everyday” architecture in the book “Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture,” which she co-authored with illustrator Phil Thompson. Published last year, the book features nearly 200 illustrations by Thompson, an artist and owner of Wonder City Studio, who also wrote the first four chapters of the book. A preservation and sustainability consultant specializing in community engagement and resiliency, Bruni teaches …

John Galluzzi first joined the San Rocco di Potenza Society around 20 years ago after learning of their mission: To care for the poor and sick like the saint the group is devoted to. “The men and women in the society are all pointed toward the same thing, continuing to honor and venerate San Rocco,” Galluzzi says. After years as a member, Galluzzi was asked to accept the responsibility of being the group’s president. “It’s just a tremendous honor,” Galluzzi says. “I don’t think I really deserve it, I think there’s a lot of people who could do it.” San …

Little known outside of Cleveland, the Italian Cultural Garden has been celebrating Italy’s contribution to the world on a grand scale for nearly a century. Michelangelo, Vinci, Dante, Galileo, Marconi, Virgil, Palladio, Giotto, Petrarch, Verdi, Ovidio, Donatello, Bernini. Outside of Cleveland, not many know that a monument honoring these Italian greats is located in the city’s Rockefeller Park. Their statues and carved images are immortalized in the Italian Cultural Garden, a Renaissance-style monument listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Dedicated in 1930, this public space was the center of Italian activities in Cleveland in the 1930s and 1940s. …

While studying to be a lawyer in college, Anthony Greco joined the Army National Guard and was transformed by the experience. The older of two children, Anthony Greco was born in Evanston, Illinois, to Anthony and Tracy Sherrill Greco. His mother, from Evanston, recently passed away. His father was born in Calabria, Italy, and at 6 months old, immigrated with his mother to Patterson, New Jersey, to join his father. They later moved to the Chicago area to help with the family restaurant. Greco grew up in Melrose Park enjoying Italian foods prepared by his paternal grandfather, who owned Tony’s …

There’s a famous quote from St. Francis of Assisi that applies to the renovation of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii: “First, what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” This spring, the Shrine will be in full bloom at our newly renovated place of worship, which has been the home of Italian Americans for more than a century. Fr. Richard N. Fragomeni, Ph.D., rector of the Shrine, always says, “The Shrine is a place where your heart has a home.” Well, this renovation wouldn’t be possible without the hearts of many. …

For 50 years, members of the Mazzini-Verdi Club and Mazzini-Verdi Ladies Club have gathered at 9230 Belmont Ave. in Franklin Park to spend time together, host events in the clubhouse ballroom and play in friendly yet competitive games of bocce on the indoor courts. To lead the clubs as they begin the next 50 years are two presidents with plenty of experience, Luigi Banducci and Lydia Arnstein. Arnstein joined the Mazzini-Verdi Ladies Club around 35 years ago. This year and next will be Arnstein’s third two-year term as president. Her predecessor, Giovanna Carlino, sadly passed away late last year, during …

Pat Disabato takes to the stage of the The Lyric Theater in Blue Island. After a three-decade career in newspapers, Pat Disabato now works as live events manager for The Lyric Theater in uptown Blue Island, which he describes as having “a vibe like no other.” “It resembles a 1940s Las Vegas cabaret with state-of-the-art sound and lighting,” he says. “We have servers taking drink orders, so folks can enjoy the show without having to leave their seat. They love that.” A native of Blue Island, Disabato grew up wanting to be either a major league baseball player or a …

If she hadn’t trusted her instincts, Carla Cornette would have never embarked on the circuitous path that eventually led her to find her life’s passion: teaching Italian. In fact, that’s precisely her advice for young people. “Listen to your gut!” she says. “If you’re passionate about something, follow that and make it work.” A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Cornette is the director of undergraduate studies for the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Missouri, where she also teaches Italian. Cornette has taught at the University of Missouri (nicknamed “Mizzou”) for the last three years after teaching …

Spinal muscular atrophy may confine her to a wheelchair, but it hasn’t prevented Luisa Rizzo from soaring to the top of the drone racing world. The pinnacle of 23-year-old Luisa Rizzo’s drone racing career so far was her triumph at the 2024 Women’s World Drone Racing Championship in Hangzhou, China. She used her innate talent, lightning-fast reflexes and strategic prowess to outlast 111 of the world’s best pilots, all while seated in her motorized wheelchair. “When I won the gold medal, it was unexpected for everyone. I had everyone cheering for me, not just Italians,” Rizzo says. “I was not …

I first heard the above about seven decades ago. It gave me and my cousins the giggles to hear my Uncle Mil refer to one of my great-aunts that way. But let’s start the story with the man who brought so much lighthearted joy into our lives. His name was Emilio Antonio Grippo. Born in 1920, he was the first son and fourth child of Antonio and Elena (Morrone) Grippo, who had emigrated from Laurino, Salerno, Campania, Italy around 1912. My grandparents lived on May Street just south of Taylor Street in Chicago’s legendary Little Italy. Finances, fate and the …