The presentation will serve as an introduction to a three session mini-seminar on the Aeneid that Dr. Amelung will lead this coming autumn as a joint endeavor with the Classical Club of St. Louis, of which Anna is the President.  Dr. Amelung has received the Laurea in Foreign Languages from the Università di Bologna and a Ph.D. in French Literature from Washington University.  After teaching in France and Italy, she now teaches Latin and French at University City High School, sharing her knowledge and love for the ancient world with the youth of modern America.
 

   Born in Naples in 1890 from a patrician family, De Pinedo was a cultured gentleman who had little in common with the roguish, daredevil aviator typical of his time.  Reserved and formal, he did not like to communicate, not even in writing, an unsettling trait for Mussolini, who was forced to keep up with his aviator’s progress through the newspapers.  

   To satisfy his wanderlust, at the age of 18 De Pinedo joined the Italian Royal Navy, but after six years he realized that aviation, then in its infancy, was more to his liking.  In just 45 days he received his flying license and used his newly acquired skill during WW1, earning decorations, promotions, and the reputation of being a very promising pilot.  He was transferred to the newly formed Italian Royal Air Force with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and with executive functions at the Supreme Command in Rome.  

   At the age of 33 De Pinedo has arrived, but the sedentary life in the Air Force Ministry is not what De Pinedo wants, so he manages to convince his superiors that Italy must prove that its pilots and airplanes are the best in the world and that the best way to accomplish this is to engage in far reaching air missions.

   For his flights De Pinedo uses seaplanes built by Savoia-Marchetti of Sesto Calende, near Lago Maggiore.  In 1925 for his first mission he flies the Gennariello, a single-engine S16 seaplane, on a 34-mile trip to Tokyo by way of Australia.  

   In his second mission he flies to South America, North America, and return, covering 36,000 miles and four continents.  He chooses the new S55 seaplane, a catamaran with dual push-pull in-line engines, named the Santa Maria.  With a crew of three, in February 1927 he departs from Sesto Calende and reaches Boloma, from where the Atlantic crossing is to begin.  After several delays, on February 22 he is able to take off from Capo Verse.  The crossing is marred by bad weather, but finally they reach the coast of Brazil after 15 hours of flight.  From here they fly to Argentina and Cuba, everywhere greeted with enthusiasm by the locals.   On March 29 they reach New Orleans, establishing a historical milestone, since this date marks the first time that a foreign pilot has landed a foreign aircraft in the USA.  It is less than two months before the famous Charles Lindbergh crossing.

   From here they fly to San Antonio, Texas, and Arizona, where a regrettable accident occurs:  here the Santa Maria goes up in flames when a careless worker throws a cigarette butt into the water, igniting the thin layer of gasoline that was floating on it.  The U.S. apologizes to the Italian Government and offers a replacement plane, but Mussolini refuses and instructs the Savoia-Marchetti to send another plane, to be transported to New York by ship.  

   After the Santa Maria II arrives, De Pinedo draws a new route and decides to skip all stops west of the Mississippi, including St. Louis, disappointing hundreds of St. Louisans who must be satisfied with a glimpse of the flying boat.  The bad weather causes many delays but De Pinedo finally arrives in Montreal on May 17.  The weather continues to deteriorate so it takes them three days to reach Newfoundland, from where the return crossing is to start.  After several take-off attempts, the news arrives that Charles Lindbergh has successfully landed in Paris.  

   The Santa Maria II finally takes off but soon it encounters strong head winds and after a few hours of flight it becomes obvious that fuel consumption is higher than expected.  Luckily they spot a fishing boat, the Portuguese Infante de Sangres and De Pinedo convinces the captain to take him in tow.  They are some 200 miles short of the Azores.  

   While the entire world is celebrating Charles Lindbergh, the Italians are beginning to mourn the loss of De Pinedo.  Neither the aircraft nor the fishing boat are equipped with radio and all that the Italians know is that De Pinedo left Newfoundland the day before and must therefore be lost at sea.

   But the following day a British ship radios in that it has sighted a fishing vessel towing a white plane.  Jubilant, the Italians order the Italian cargo ship Superga to meet the Portuguese fishing boat and take over the tow of the aircraft to the Azores, where the plane is lifted on land to repair the wing damage suffered in the tow.  After a few days De Pinedo and crew take off again and return west to the point where they met the fishing boat before turning east towards home.  The extra step was taken to make sure that the complete route was actually flown.  

   There is no need to rush it anymore.  Now the aviators take their time to stop in Portugal and Spain before finally touching down in Orbetello (Ostia), very near the location where today is the International Airport of Fiumicino.  

   To welcome the aviators are members of the royal family, Mussolini, Italo Balbo and thousands of cheering Italians.  De Pinedo is acclaimed a national hero and the entire country is in ecstasy. 

   The British government presents De Pinedo with its Air Force Cross “for distinguished service to aviation".  The British probably wanted to remind everyone that Lucky Lindy wasn't the only man who flew an airplane in 1927!   Today, however, Marchese Generale Francesco De Pinedo is just about forgotten by historians, educators and mass media.  

   Perhaps the best epitaph for his endeavor is a quote from Professor Gregory Alegi of Rome, who said:  “It’s really too bad that history has only space for one hero”.  

   For more information on the extraordinary accomplishments of Francesco De Pinedo, visit our website www.italystl.com.

   The next event in the Italian Club/ Saint Louis Art Museum Italian film series will be on Friday, October 18.  Based on the popularity of the series, it will be expanded to have two films presented  on the same day: Divorce, Italian-Style at 4:00 PM and the Mastroianni retrospective, Io Ricordo, Io Ricordo at 7:00 PM
 
 
 
 

   Seminar discussion topics will be:  

• September 12: Aeneas, the chosen one (Excerpts from Books I, II and III)
• October 10: The tragedy of Dido (Excerpts from Books IV and VI)
• November 14: War in Italy. (Excerpts from Books VII – XII)

   All performances are sung in Italian with projected translations.  On August 16th Dr. Glen Bauer, Director of Music History and Literature at Webster University, will give a pre-concert program at 7 PM.  Dr. Bauer recently visited Italy and all the sites where the events of Tosca took place. 

   All performances begin at 8 PM at Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 North Union Blvd., located one block north of Delmar.  Center front tickets are $25.  General Admission tickets are $20 and tickets for students and seniors are $18.  Doors open at 7:15 PM.  For more information call 314-361-2881 or e-mail uaot@juno.com.  

  Ed Note: For more details and cast see "New In St. Louis"
 
 

   Umberto Poli (Trieste 1883 – Gorizia 1957) prese il cognome di Saba (“pane” in ebraico) in omaggio alle origini della madre, che fu abbandonata dal marito alla nascita del poeta.  La sua infanzia non fu felice e probabilemente causò le molte nevrosi che lo afflissero nell’età adulta.  Condusse una vita appartata dedicandosi alla stesura della raccolta di poesie intitolata “Il canzoniere”.  

Madre che ho fatto
soffrire
(cantava un merlo alla finestra, il giorno
abbassava, sì acuta era la pena
che morte a entrambi io m’invocavo)
madre
ieri in tomba obliata, oggi rinata
presenza,
che dal fondo dilaga quasi vena
d’acqua, cui dura forza reprimeva,
e una mano le toglie abile o incauta
l’impedimento;
presaga gioia io sento
il tuo ritorno, madre mia che ho fatto,
come un buon figlio amoroso, soffrire.

Pacificata in me ripeti antichi
moniti vani.  E il tuo soggiorno un verde
giardino io penso, ove con te riprendere
può conversare l’anima fanciulla, 
inebbriarsi del tuo mesto viso,
sì che l’ali vi perda come al lume
una farfalla.  È un sogno,
un mesto sogno; ed io lo so.  Ma giungere
vorrei dove sei giunta, entrare dove
tu sei entrata
- ho tanta
gioia e tanta stanchezza! -
farmi, o madre,
come una maccha dalla terra nata,
che in sé la terra riassorbe ed annulla. 

 

   Ma nel 250 Decio dovette dedicare la sua attenzione a pericoli più pressanti.  Infatti le orde dei Goti avevano attraversato il Danubio, saccheggiato la Mesia e assediato le fortezze di Nova e Marcianopoli.  Il sopraggiungere di Decio spinse i Goti ad abbandonare l’assedio ed a spingersi fino a Filippopoli, che fu assediata e sconfitta.  Decio riorganizzò il suo esercito e bloccò il passaggio dei Goti sui Balcani, ma dopo alcuni scontri il suo esercito fu sconfitto e sia Decio che il figlio Erennio Etrusco furono uccisi in battaglia.  

Treboniano Gallo (206 –253)  (Imperatore 251-253).  Dopo la morte di Decio, l'esercito della Mesia proclamò imperatore Treboniano Gallo.  Giunto a Roma , Gallo deificò Decio ed Erennio e diede il titolo di Cesare al secondo figlio del morto imperatore, Caio Valente Ostinano.  Poco tempo dopo, quando Ostiliano morì di peste, Gallo associò nell'impero il proprio figlio Volusiano, che aveva sposato una figlia di Decio.  Seguendo l’esempio di Decio, anche Gallo perseguitò i Cristiani ma con i Goti concluse una pace simile a quella che Domiziano aveva concluso con i Daci, permettendo loro di lasciare il territorio dell' impero con il bottino di guerra e i prigionieri e promettendo loro larghe somme di denaro.

   Le legioni si ribellarono contro queste condizioni che consideravano disonorevoli e si unirono al generale mauritano Emilio Emiliano, il quale aveva promesso che li avrebbe ricompensati dando loro il denaro che Gallo aveva promesso ai Goti.  
Dopo aver sconfitto i Galli, i pretoriani uccisero Gallo e il figlio Volusiano e dichiararono Emiliano imperatore.
 

Ed Note:  The entire series, to date, can be viewed on this Portal at Storia d'Italia