Tag Archives: Anna Clara Ionta

In my mother’s hometown in Italy, people don’t ask, “What is your name?” Rather, they ask, “To whom do you belong?” You answer with the family name, actually most of the time with the nickname by which your family is known in town. The importance of belonging to a family, to a community, comes before one’s own individuality. The community shares the same values, customs, traditions and dialect, as well as hopes, beliefs and expectations. Italians who left Italy and came to this country have maintained many of those values and traditions. The fourth- and fifth-generations Italian-Americans of today are …

Three Midwestern luminaries were knighted by Italian Consul General Giuseppe Finocchiaro at a special ceremony on Dec. 12. Chicago-area activist Lissa Druss and Milwaukee stalwart Pietro Tarantino earned the rank of Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia and longtime Loyola University language instructor Anna Clara Ionta ascended to the higher rank of Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia. Lissa Druss Lissa Druss is founder and CEO of Strategia Consulting, a government relations, U.S. and international business relations, and crisis communication firm based in Chicago, DuPage County and Washington, D.C. Strategia relationships are spread throughout the U.S. and Europe. Lissa spent 21 years …