Profiles

A generation removed from far northeastern Italy, Micky Dolenz skyrocketed to fame as a driving force behind one of America’s most beloved ’60s pop groups and he’s still performing today. “Hey! Hey! We’re the Monkees!” was a familiar ditty that drew so many of us to our black-and-white television sets with the “bunny-ear” antennas on Monday evenings in the mid-’60s. For me, it was the Saturday morning reruns of the ’70s that bound me to America’s Marx Brothers-esque answer to the Mop-Top British Invasion. Davy Jones, the British heartthrob and tambourine playing vocalist; Peter Tork, the simple, soft-spoken bassist; and …

Steve Serio, co-captain of the U.S. Men’s National Wheelchair Basketball team, says he never thought he would have the honor of being named a flag bearer for Team USA. And yet there he was with fellow para athlete Nicky Nieves, leading the 225-member Team USA Paris delegation down the famed Champs-Élysées during the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games. “To be voted flag bearer among my peers, it’s one of the most special moments of my career,” Serio says. Serio’s career has had no shortage of special moments. As co-captain, he helped lead the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball …

Hooked on science ever since his parents bought him a chemistry set at the age of 10, Dr. Louis Ignarro’s life was transformed when he discovered the remarkable impact that nitric oxide has on our overall health. The son of uneducated Italian immigrants, Dr. Louis J. Ignarro won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 for a discovery that led to important advances in promoting cardiovascular health. His memoir, “Dr. NO: The Discovery That Led to a Nobel Prize and Viagra,” was published in 2022. His second book, “The Miracle Molecule,” is expected out this year. Now a professor emeritus …

Daniel Pizzoferrato says that the first time he heard someone play the zampogna, it felt like he was listening to the sound of his ancestry. That moment 10 years ago prompted Pizzoferrato to embark on a journey to master the ancient Italian instrument, which he now showcases at Italian-American Christmastime celebrations in the Chicago area. He also occasionally plays with La Tosca Italian Mambo Ensemble, based in Chicago. So why was hearing the sound of the zampogna so touching for him that first time? “I grew up with a lot of music and people who played the Italian accordion, the …

Running a large, successful non-profit enterprise has its challenges, but Chicagoland Italian American Charitable Organization President Lou Scaramuzzo says his members make his job so much easier. “The membership is so cooperative and willing to do whatever it takes to help people,” Scaramuzzo says. “They are very giving people who do exceptional charitable work.” Scaramuzzo is on his second stint as president of CIACO, having previously led from 2007-14. A member of CIACO since 2003 and a board member since 2005, he has been with the group almost since its founding in 1998. One way to track the group’s growth …

An Italian-language instructor at the University of Illinois Chicago for more than 24 years, Maria Iusco is the creator of the school’s longest-running study abroad program, which has brought hundreds of students to Siena and Salerno in Italy. Speaking two or more languages is an asset that helps students become citizens of the world and opens more professional opportunities for them, she says. “This is what I build on in all my classes every single day,” Iusco says. “This is a gift that was given to me, and this is what I give to my students.” Born and raised in …

Now representing Italy on his sixth of seven continents, Chicago’s new consul general has been a part of several initiatives that have significantly impacted his country’s relationship with the rest of the world. Most of us have been in the proverbial right place at the right time at least once in our lives. Mario Bartoli, Italy’s new consul general in Chicago, has made a career of it. During nearly a quarter-century in the Italian diplomatic corps, Bartoli has played a role in easing tensions between North and South Korea, worked with local authorities to secure the release of two hostages …

An ammo bearer and then M-60 gunner for the Army, Paul LaFalce is still dealing with the psychic damage wrought during endless recon missions in the jungles of Vietnam. One of four children, Paul LaFalce was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, to Anthony and Maria Scrivani LaFalce. He grew up there surrounded by his extended family. LaFalce’s paternal grandparents emigrated from Calabria and his maternal grandparents from Abruzzo. LaFalce remembers many good cooks in his family. “Grandma LaFalce made the best meatballs and sauce,” he says. “And Grandma Scrivani made the best homemade cheese ravioli.” The LaFalce family, which included …

What do Yogi Berra, Joe Garagiola, Frank Crespi and Jim Pisoni have in common? The baseball legends have been immortalized on a mural in Cuggiono, Italy! All four were born between 1918 to 1929 on “The Hill,” the legendary Italian-American neighborhood in St. Louis, to parents who had emigrated from western Lombardy, where Cuggiono is located. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, thousands of residents of Cuggiono and nearby towns such as Inveruno, Malvaglio, Buscate and Arconate immigrated to the United States, with St. Louis being one of their primary destinations. The idea to honor the four baseball stars …

Italy’s first master chocolatier, Cecilia Rabassi is creating an oasis in the Tuscan countryside where people can savor and learn about “The Chocolate of Tomorrow.” “Creating chocolate is like a dance. Every movement must be perfect and perfection is achieved only by trying and trying again, with sacrifice, perseverance and passion.” That’s how Cecilia Tessieri Rabassi, the first female maître chocolatier in the world and the first person to earn the title in Italy, describes on her website the product she has carefully crafted for more than 30 years. Rabassi was appointed Cavaliere al merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight of …