Giorgio Marconi, aka Mr. Congeniality, will be our Trivia Master.  He has designed for the evening a competition that should be both challenging and entertaining.  Among the categories that will be covered in the multi-media contest will be Italian and Italian-American geography, history, music, food and wine, and a special category of history of the Hill neighborhood.  Each dinner table will comprise a team.  The team with the most points at the end of the evening will not only cover itself with glory but win a prize as well. 

   Giorgio Marconi is a mechanical designer of specialized machine tools for the automation industry with the Ferguson Machine Tool Company and a member of the Italian Club of St. Louis.  He is an avid enthusiast of all things Italian including language, culture, sports (calcio is sacred), and food and wine (his sugo, polenta, risotto and gnocchi are reputed to be formidable indeed). 

   These mixtures developed over centuries in towns and villages isolated by war and terrain and eventually evolved into the Italian dialects known today.  No one is really certain how many different Italian dialects there are.  Stelzer distributed a chart showing 58 different dialects but there may be many more.  With the formation of the nation of Italy in 1861, Tuscan was chosen as the official language.  Although the rival Sicilian language was considered, Tuscan was selected primarily because the great canonical classics of Italian literature, such as the works of Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarca, and Machiavelli, were written in Tuscan.  Also, Tuscan had remained closest to the original Latin and was considered “purer” and less contaminated by outside or “non-Latin” influences. 

   Through the use of charts, Stelzer compared numbers 1 through 10, some simple nouns, and the indicative conjugations of two basic verbs, “to be” and “to have” in English, Latin, Italian, Lombard and Sicilian.  The Italian, Lombard, and Sicilian terms were also read aloud by native speakers to give the pronunciation.  Sutera spoke about the Sicilian “language” and its dialects.  Except for standard Italian, Sicilian is the second most spoken Italianate language in the world.  With its own corpus of early poetry and literature, Sicilian is composed of three major divisions, the western, central, and eastern “dialects”.  Within each, there are several sub-dialects comprising in all some 10 different forms of the basic language.  Like other dialects, Sicilian results from the overlay of Latin on the indigenous Siculi and Sicani languages as modified through the centuries by Greek, Phoenician, Arab, Norman and other influences.  As a formal language with no recent literature, it is disappearing rapidly although a new Sicilian grammar is being published.  Charts were shown comparing Sicilian words with their Italian counterparts and rules of grammar, pronunciation and the evolution of names were discussed. 

   Stelzer then discussed the characteristics of the numerous Lombard sub-dialects.  The origin of Lombard also results from the overlay of Latin on indigenous regional languages, such as Celtic and Ligurian, further modified by the influx of many other peoples including Gauls, Goths, French, and even Greeks.  She gave examples of how each of these tongues influenced specific Lombard words and demonstrated certain characteristics peculiar to Lombard, such as unique accents, cut-off endings, and frontal vowels. 

   Throughout the program, emphasis was placed on having various dialects actually spoken so that differences in pronunciations could be noted.  Several brief poems and stories were read aloud in English, Italian (Stelzer), standard Lombard (Lozano), the Lombard Arconate sub-dialect (Paganini), the Lombard Pavia sub-dialect (Arpiani), and Sicilian (Gandolfo).  A chart was shown with the simple phrase “I’m not hungry” written in Latin, Italian, Lombard, and Sicilian.  Each expression was read aloud so differences could be heard as well as seen.  Audience volunteers were then asked to say it in their own dialects.  This drew about 10 different responses including Triestino, Napoletano, Piemontese, and Calabrese among others.

   The films will be shown at the Bocce Club on Saturday October 7, Friday October 27, Saturday November 11, and Saturday December 9 starting at 7:00 pm.  So mark your calendars!

   The first film will be Ermanno Olmi’s 1978 award winning L’Albero degli zoccoli (The Tree of the Wooden Clogs).  In color, it is a touching story of late 19th century family life in the rural Lombardy’s province of Bergamo.  Running time is about three hours (there will be an intermission), but you will find it well worth your time. 

   The October 27 film, a classic of Italian postwar black and white neorealism, is Vittorio DeSica’s 1948 Ladri di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thief).  The November and December films will be announced later.  Admission to the film series is free.  The Italia-America Bocce Club is located at 2210 Marconi Avenue.  For additional information please call Gene Mariani at 352-5484 or Barbara Klein at 436-2211 (office) or 618-233-7261(home). 
 

   Through the efforts of Joseph Torrisi, children from the Dewey International School, Shaw School, and possibly St. Ambrose School will attend the ceremony, as well as delegations from the Italian Community Band and the Knights of Columbus.  In addition to the wreath-laying ceremony, a memorial tree will by presented to Tower Grove Park in honor of Columbus.  Through the generosity of the Southwest Bank, there will be a reception following the ceremonies.  The Columbus Day Statue is located near the Grand Avenue entrance to the Park.  Members are urged to attend.

   In accordance with the By-Laws, a regular member may place in nomination the name or names of any regular member or members for any officer or director position to be filled at such regular meting and election by means of nomination from the floor at the time of such election.  Such nomination must be seconded by at least one other regular member.

   Our format will remain the same.  Carla’s lectures will be in Italian but participants may ask questions or make comments in English.  The group will meet on Thursday evenings from 7-8 p.m. beginning September 28 and ending October 16.  There will be no session on October 19.  The location again will be the Southwest Bank.  Attendance is limited to 24 persons.  For more information or to make reservations, please contact Barbara Klein by email at barbara201@aol.com  or by telephone at 618-233-7261 (evenings).
 

24.  Vittorio Alfieri (Asti 1749 – Firenze 1803) nacque da famiglia della nobiltà sabauda.  Dopo l’Accademia militare e numerosi viaggi per l’Europa sviluppò un interesse sempre maggiore per gli studi letterari, a cui si dedicò a partire dalla metà degli anni ’70.  Le sue tragedie ebbero molto successo ma al vertice della vita spirituale egli pose la poesia, intesa come massima espressione della libertà di coscienza.  Le sue Rime, pubblicate postume nel 1804, seguono la vita e i drammi psicologici dell’Alfieri uomo e letterato, costituendo come una specie di diario lirico.  Questo sonetto tratta, con lo stile drammatico ed emotivo dei preromantici, della sua ribellione contro l’istituzione monarchica, da lui considerata tirannica.

Tacito orror¹ di solitaria selva
di sì dolce tristezza il cor mi bea
che in essa al par di me non si ricrea
tra’ figli suoi nessuna orrida belva².

E quanto addentro più il mio piè s’inselva³,
tanto più calma e gioia in me si crea;
onde membrando com’io là godea,
spesso mia mente poscia si rinselva⁴.

Non ch’io gli uomini abborra, e che in me stesso
mende non vegga⁵, e più che in altri assai; 
né ch’io mi creda al buon sentier più appresso⁶:

ma, non mi piacque il vil mio secolo mai:
e dal pesante regal giogo oppresso,
sol nei deserti tacciono i miei guai.

¹ Silenziosa oscurità.  ² nessuna bestia feroce che la abita vi si rallegra quanto me. .  ³ e quanto più il mio piede s’inoltra nel fitto bosco.  ⁴ si perde di nuovo come in una selva.  ⁵  non trovi difetti   ⁶ di aver intrapreso la strada migliore.

Nella seduta del Senato del 17 marzo, tra pareri diversi e contrastanti, il grande oratore Cicerone propose che il delitto avvenuto due giorni prima fosse del tutto dimenticato.  Dichiarando che Cesare non era colpevole di aver aspirato al regno, accettò come valide le sue decisioni ma propose che non si dovesse procedere contro i congiurati.  La proposta fu approvata.  Le discussioni ripresero di lì a poco a proposito dei funerali, che fu deciso fossero a spese dello Stato.  

Fu allora che Antonio prese al parola e comunicò al popolo il testamento di Cesare.  Nel testamento, modificato da Antonio per sollevare l’opinione pubblica contro i congiurati, Cesare adottava il nipote Gaio Ottavio e lo dichiarava erede di tre quarti del suo patrimonio, lasciava al popolo romano i giardini ai piedi del Gianicolo e donava 300 sesterzi ad ogni cittadino romano.  Il popolo si ribellò contro i congiurati e il tumulto costrinse Bruto e Cassio ad abbandonare Roma.  Antonio, per mezzo di plebisciti e con l'appoggio dei veterani, riuscì a controllare la situazione e andò in Campania, mentre Ottavio, che si trovava ad Apollonia, decise di tornare a Roma per affermare i suoi diritti di erede di Cesare.  A Roma egli accettò l'adozione con il nome di Gaio Giulio Cesare Ottaviano, ma dovette subito arruolare un esercito per combattere contro Antonio, che sconfisse nella cosiddetta guerra di Modena.  

Quando il Senato, diffidando di lui, gli rifiutò il trionfo, Ottaviano avanzò su Roma con le legioni e impose con la forza la sua nomina a console.  Ciò lo riavvicinò ad Antonio che nel frattempo aveva stretto accordi con Lepido, governatore della Gallia e della Spagna, mentre Bruto e Cassio si erano impadroniti l'uno della Macedonia, l'altro della Siria.  Dopo varie trattative, nel 43 a.C. Ottaviano, Antonio e Lepido formarono il Secondo Triumvirato, che, a differenza del primo triumvirato, fu di carattere pubblico e fu ratificato e istituzionalizzato dal Senato per la durata di cinque anni.  Dandosi il nome di Triumviri rei publicae constituendae, essi manifestarono la loro intenzione di creare una nuova costituzione per lo Stato romano.  Uno dei loro primi atti fu di deificare Cesare e di proclamarlo divus Iulius.