La Basilicata nel Mondo (People from Basilicata in the World) was an illustrated monthly magazine produced by Giovanni Riviello in Naples, Italy. It was one of the mostly widely distributed Italian magazines abroad. It regularly featured natives from the southern Italian region of Basilicata (also known by its ancient name Lucania) who were excelling in America.

Michael Paterno • Written in 1927

He is one of the three members of that powerful triad of New York builder known under the name of Paterno Brothers, from Castelmezzano. But he has a peculiar personality of his own that cannot be confounded with any other’s. His vivid and ductile talent enables him to impress upon his buildings a line of power and grandeur, which is the characteristic mark of modern American buildings. But a touch of elegance and harmony gives also a singular note of levity to those gigantic buildings which seem to lose by it their heaviness, and appear wonderful structures of beauty and magnificence. One would feel embarrassed in choosing whether to admire more the architectural decorum of the stately and accurate dispositions of apartment, furnished with the finest modern comfort and the most complete installation of services.

Like his brothers, Michael Paterno, is an industrialist of the highest style and possesses the infallible glance of rapid and sure valuation of things. He has that intuition which is instinctive and innate in men of his temper, and forms the peculiar character of the great industrialist.

His success and triumphs in his art he owes to this gift and to the steadiness of character, which make him resemble a square powerful tower domineering stately the furious and stormy elements.

He is a wonderful man of action, with steel muscles and an impassible soul. He knows how to rule over things and submit events, strong both in crisis, and in success. With equal calm and confident serenity he turns boldly his head to the battle or to the trump. And he never lingers on his way. His day is always filled with noble work.

Like his brothers, Michael Paterno not only in the industrial field cooperates in highly honoring the name of Italy, in the largest metropolis of the United States of America. Though born there, he loves fervently the Fatherland of his parent. This love entered his soul and blood with the life.

He inherited from his father, together with his brothers, the austerity of life, the tenacious will of work, the strong temper of the builder and he inherited also the pride of belonging by origin and spirit to that Italian people, which more than anybody else spread all over the world the light of civilization.

Michael Paterno is always ready to meet any appeal or to adhere to any manifestation of Italian initiative in that country beyond the ocean. His name is surrounded with the same respect which surrounds those of his brothers. And we feel it to be our duty to point him out to the Italians in general and to the Basilicatesi in particular, as a new example of the inexhaustible vitality of our old and strong Lucanian race, which, even in pain and sorrow, has the power to create, in its maternal bosom, men of great value, who in all circumstances reveal themselves to be the real men of fate.

Together with his brother, Joseph and Charles, and his brother-in-law, Great Officer Anthony Campagna, Michael Paterno divides the high and noble merit of having translated into the most splendid realty a generous dream: “The House of Italian Culture” standing on the hill of the Columbia University.

Therefore we must join his name to those of the principal raiser of this famous monument designed to spread the light of the Italian art and culture in America.

Let us give a cheer for Michael Paterno and honor him as one of the best Basilicatesi living in the United States of America.

The Italian House of Culture in New York in the thought of Anthony Campagna • Written in 1927

The Italian press was very busy with the trip of Anthony Campagna to Italy, who came, as is well known, together with his brother-in-law, Joseph Paterno, to agree with the Italian Government on the program of the inauguration of the Italian House of Culture in New York.

In Rome, he stayed for a week and was received by His Excellency Mussolini, together with the other members of the Committee of the Italian House of Culture, Professor Butler, President of Columbia University of New York, Grand Officer Joseph Paterno, Professor Bigongiari of Columbia University, and Captain Orsenigo.

The Minister of Education His Excellency Fedele, who remembers the lawyer Campagna, to R. Lucio di Potenza, one of his most favorite pupils, was particularly generous with kindness and affection. Finally, the Government, in honor of Joseph Paterno and Lawyer Campagna and all the other members of the New York Committee, offer a banquet, at the Albergo degli Ambasciatori in Rome, and a very rich one, among at Villa D’Este. Passing through Naples, the lawyer Campagna and his brother-in-law Joseph Paterno were shown a warm demonstration of sympathy and admiration on the part of the best elements of our Neapolitan colony, on the initiative of our magazine, an event that the press has largely dealt with and we give in this issue review.

Then during Anthony Campagna’s stay in Naples “Il Mattino” which, after “Il Corriere della Sera” in Milan and “La Stampa” in Turin, and the third major daily organ of Italian public opinion, sent one of its most valiant editors, Professor Giuseppe Tricarico, to interview the distinguished man on the origins and functions of the “Italian House of Culture” in New York.

We reproduce the interview verbatim, which largely draws the attention of Italians to the monumental work due in large part to the patriotism of the brothers Paterno: Joseph, Charles, Michael, and Anthony Campagna.

Much has been said in Italy, especially in recent times about the “Italian House of Culture” which is about to rise precisely in New York. Few, however, we believe, are those who know what its aims and purposes are. We therefore have , considered it appropriate to interview the same lawyer Anthony Campagna on the subject, who, as a good southerner as he is preserved, has very kindly agreed to our desire, providing us with important information that we are happy to publish.

-Can you tell us something about the “Italian House of Culture”? we asked the lawyer. Campagna.

–The “Italian House of Culture” at the University of Columbia, said the lawyer Campagna, should not be confused with a school for the study of the Italian language, although this purpose is part of its minimum program. The Italian House aims to be a great forge of study and intellectual and spiritual exchange between Italy and the United States, which will undoubtedly bring with it mutual respect and intimate and cordial relations without wanting to mention the best economic relations that may eventually tomorrow arise as a result of this new spiritual situation that will be created between the two great peoples. The “Italian House of Culture” will be – I love to repeat the words of Professor Nicholas Murray Butler, Dean of the University of Columbia – “a living center of action, a source” of life and knowledge, of contacts and human interest, “and when, a few months from now, the House will begin” forces will be set in motion that he knows “will be felt throughout Italy and throughout America” ​​and by reflection in the entire civilized world.”

-Do you want to mention the importance that Columbia University has in America?

-The University of Columbia, under whose aegis the “Italian House of Culture” rises and not only the first University founded in the United States, and was the first to introduce the study of the Italian language since 1825 with Lorenzo da Ponte, but that University is the largest intellectual institution in the United States. Columbia, in fact, has over 35,000 students who enroll every year, coming from all States of the Union and from the most distant civilized nations, and about 15,000 students who manage to follow their studies with correspondence courses that are issued by the University in the most remote corners of the nations. There are also six Theological Seminaries and secondary schools of various denominations, thus forming an impressive force of 40 to 60,000 young people, who, under the influence of that University, pour into the life of the nation every year. The University of Columbia also includes international relations centers, such as the Carnegie Foundation for Peace, the Office of International Rights – which are now compiling the History of War which will consist of about eight hundred volumes – and there is only one month until Columbia doesn’t get an intellectual or political commission. Indeed, the “Italian House” immediately imposed itself on the attention and admiration of the distinguished personalities who make up these Commissions. In fact, the Rector of the University of Paris, Professor Lapie, who months ago took part in the International Philosophical Congress at Cambridge University and was a guest of Columbia University, had the opportunity to observe the progress of the “Italian House” and to learn the purposes for which such a grandiose building was about to arise. He was unable to maintain the expression of his warmest praise for what he called a gigantic work.

I must point out in this regard that the French, who maintain a study center at Columbia University, are now making efforts to rival the “Italian House.” Meanwhile, it is very significant that a French soldier and artist, Mr. Reni Mel, donated a symbolic painting by His Excellency Mussolini to our “Casa Italiano” – for which he was offered the sum of 15,000 dollars – as his personal contribution for what he considers a cause worthy of deep admiration.

Thus also the Romanian Delegation, headed by two Ministers, who went to visit the United States, was a guest last summer at the University of Columbia, and having seen what the Italian-Americans were doing for the spread of their culture, they wanted express the feelings of deep sympathy for the Italian nation, proposing, upon returning to the homeland, to promote a stronger and more intimate understanding between Romania and Italy.

Professor John L. Gerig, President of the “Italian House,” in making public the above data pointed out that the “Italian House” was already assuming an international importance.

-Who is entitled to the happy initiative of such an institution?

-The initiative of the “Casa Italiana” is due to the Italian students of Columbia, who for many years aspired to establish a social and spiritual center in that University and keep alive the culture and traditions of the Motherland, as well as the French students had their own Maison Francaise. This right aspiration, which in another environment and in other times would have met indifference and, perhaps, distrust, instead immediately won the sympathy of the esteemed Professor Gerig, who resolutely placed himself at the head of the movement, finding, later, his warmest supporter in the person of Nicholas Murray Butler, magnificent educator and one of the most distinguished and illustrious personalities of the North American Republic, to whom the University of Rome, with a simple and solemn ceremony, conferred an honorary degree, meaning in this way worthily the gratitude and admiration of Italy for his most noble work.

Thus launched the idea of ​​the “Italian House,” generous contributions were obtained, but not such as to reach the desired goal. A popular subscription was therefore used which, led by the lawyer Freschi and the other members of the Committee, in June 1925, I brought the Cash Fund to about $ 46,000. The plan was to buy a small house in the Columbia neighborhood and adapt it to the desired purpose; but, despite the modesty of the project, at least another ten thousand dollars were still needed. We were then approached by the lawyer Freschi, Joseph, Michael Paterno and myself, and we did not hesitate to offer our financial and technical cooperation. The little house, however restored, to me immediately seemed too modest and too narrow a thing to represent the greatness of the homeland in America. At any cost, however, it was necessary to put on a new building with an all-Italian architecture and imprint, which had to be admired by all. But, in the meantime, how to provide for the cost of a new building that could cost 5 or 6 times the sum collected over several years? The three of us, that is, Joseph and Michael Paterno and I, offered $65,000 as our personal contribution, and we pledged to advance all other necessary sums, thus giving our compatriots the opportunity to gradually contribute to the foundation of the institution. Of course, if the entire expense was not covered, we would have had to pay the difference.

With a similar proposal we went to the President of Columbia, Professor Butler, to obtain from him the sale of a space within the Columbia University, on which to erect a new building. And it is here that we had the best proof of the lively sympathies, of the profound admiration that the illustrious Professor Butler feels for Italy. In fact, since the university, although very large, had no available land and there remained only a building at 177 Amsterdam Avenue, owned by a Jew, which it would have seemed absurd to demolish, President Butler also decided to do the purchase of this building for which he paid $265,000 dollars. Despite the pressure and requests, later, by the curators and administrators of the University, to have that property devolved for other purposes, the President remained our sincere friend and the building was demolished to give rise to the “Italian House.” Thus, in just over a year, a fantastic dream was translated into reality.

-What was the total cost of the construction?

-The building, whose value has been estimated by various Italian architects and builders for over $500,000 dollars, instead cost the net sum of $315,000 dollars, because we have given our work for free and we have obtained the generous cooperation of Italian suppliers and Americans who have taken various contracts at cost price.

Pre-popular contributions, and with the proceeds of the famous banquet of one thousand dollars a table, we have been paid a total sum of $115,000 dollars, with which, added to the $65,000 dollars offered by us, we arrive at a figure far lower than what represents the cost of the house. In fact, there remains a difference of $135,000 dollars which we, if necessary, will always be very happy to offer as a testimony of our great love for our homeland of origin.

The “Italian House” is one of the most beautiful buildings in Columbia and one of the most distinguished among those who adorn the great city of New York today. And this represents for us the best and most coveted satisfaction.

A Columbia bulletin commented on the rise of the “Italian House” as follows: And with a sense of “great satisfaction that we see the Italian House rise majestically.

We find only to say that the building is so superior in its architectural lines to most of the best in Columbia that it is somewhat obscured.”

On the main facade of the “Italian House” carved in massive stone, are the famous words of Byron: “Italy, mother of the arts, your hand was our protector and is still our guide.”

This is the monument that we Italians – so concludes the lawyer Anthony Campagna – we wanted to offer a new Italy.

Because, even through the feverish life of America, we follow with ardent passion the titanic struggle of our overseas brothers, inspired and guided by the Duce Magnifico, and it was precisely this feeling, this ardor, that led us to ensure that the “House Italiana” should not be a fan-like of the Maison French, but a worthy and concrete affirmation of the new spirit of our great Italy.

Now, however, we hope that this monument will not remain a cold monument of iron and stone, but that the Government and the intellectual titans of our race will be able to impose on that iron and that stone a soul that speaks not only of the glories of our past but also and above all of what the new Italy is with all its hopes for the future.

Professor Giuseppe Tricarico

Another Basilicatese, Antonio D’Angelo for the “Italian House of Culture”

Alongside the munificence and patriotism of the Paterno brothers and their brother-in-law Anthony Campagna, the work of another Lucanian, Mr. Antonio D’Angelo, for the creation of an endowment and maintenance fund for the ” Italian House. ” The noble initiative that belongs to D’Angelo and the other two Italians Gerbino and Ciccarone, and puts another Basilicata at the head of the movement, hence the greatest affirmation of Italianness in the land of America, which has so far been achieved, has thus been announced by the Secretariat of the “Italian House of New York.” We transcribe the press release.

“With the intervention of Dr. John L. Gerig, President of the Institute of Italian Culture in the United States and Dean of the Faculty of Neo-Latin Languages ​​and Literature at Columbia University, and the Honorable Judge John J. Freschi, they held a meeting in the building of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University the well-known industrialists of New York Messrs. Louis Gerbino, Adamo Ciccarone and Antonio D’Angelo to discuss the advisability of creating the maintenance fund of the Institute and to call all the generous Italians who see in his educational-cultural program the rise of the Italian name in America. They had already verbally promised to create an endowment and maintenance fund of $100,000 dollars, a fund that has nothing to do with the construction fund. An exchange of views they approved and signed a resolution in the form of a letter to Judge Freschi. We publish them so that the Italian public appreciates their gesture and imitates it by cooperating with these generous so that our worthy institution, which is destined to achieve a great future, may intensively carry out its activities based on the most intense diffusion of our culture in America.

The campaign, which will be opened at an appropriate time, has nothing to do with the deep-seated construction of the House, which was launched by the Italian House Fund, Inc., and by the Building Committee formed by Judge Freschi, Dr. Gerig, Attorney Cavaliere Officer Campagna and Cavaliere Officer Joseph Paterno and Michael Paterno. As soon as completed and officially open, the House will be handed over to Columbia, will remain under the full control and jurisdiction of the University and the Italian Cultural Institute will come into operation, which will be governed by a Board of Directors which will include the majority of the Columbia University and the Italians, who generously founded the maintenance fund. We warmly congratulate Messrs. Louis Gerbino, Adamo Ciccarone and especially with our fellow countryman Antoni D’Angelo and we make wishes that Italians will generously strengthen our Institute.”

And now here is the letter from Messrs. D’Angelo, Ciccarone and Gerbino to Judge Freschi.

New York, N.Y. August 27, 1927.

“Dear Judge Freschi, – We feel extremely privileged, at your fervent request, to cooperate with the Institute of Italian Culture in the United States, founded under the auspices of Columbia University, to create an endowment and maintenance fund, which will allow the Italian House, under said Institute, to continue the work and promote its program. We therefore warmly ask you to communicate to Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, Rector Magnificent of Columbia University, to the Board of Curators of that University, to Prof. John L. Gerig, President of the Institute and to the Board of Directors that we, the undersigned, we will guarantee and subscribe the necessary funds for the first year, each of us contributing an equal part of the necessary amount of the expected annual expenses to maintain the House as soon as it is donated to Columbia.

At the same time, we undertake to raise an endowment fund of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), if possible, in cooperation with Professor John L. Gerig, Judge Freschi and other friends.

In the meantime, we have read the letter addressed by Dr. Butler, dated 4 August 1927, in which he communicates the amount of the preventive maintenance costs as they are assessed by the Director of Works of the University and we are based on that estimate to reconfirm our promises; we also promise to help increase the maintenance fund for the future.

We feel very happy, dear judge, to make this offer because we understand the importance of creating and maintaining the House as a center of Italian cultural activities and we are sure that this noble institution will not fail to bind Italy and America by bringing together better understanding, friendship and a spirit of goodwill.”

The enlightened patriotism of such men is superior to all praise. And we are once again proud to find another Lucanian, Antonio D’Angelo, at the head of the Italian movement in the world.

Anthony Campagna • Written in 1927

How young and happy he must have found himself, within the beautiful cloister of his native mountains, returning after a long absence of several years, Anthony Campagna! And how the enthusiastic and faithful greeting of his people of Castelmezzano had to recall to his spirit the depths of the past, which from time to time rise like an illuminated altar on the top of the human soul and bind the thought of man, even in half the vertigo of action, to the chain of remembrances.

“Vague stars of the Bear!”

He too, Anthony Campagna, had his silent song in front of his open house to welcome him. And if he hasn’t really searched, with the eyes of when he was a teenager, the flights and the nests of the swallows around the eaves of the old gray houses, on the ledges of the ancient church’s cornices, around the high spire of the bell tower, his youthful affections. However, he has certainly reassembled ideally, with the voluptuousness of one who reconnects fragments of stars and dreams with pure hands, around a web of emotion. And imaginatively retracing the path of destiny he has traveled, he has had to bless a thousand times, with all his deepest heart, his beautiful native land, which raised him with the happy green of the vine leaves of the Dionysian vineyards, with the joy of the crops of gold ripe with sun and fruit, with the unanimous heart of all fellow citizens gathered in celebration for his return. Remaining simple, he found around himself, the people, the things he holds most sacred and dearest, the immutable simplicity of our people. And he had to feel great joy and a communion, as only happens between one who recognizes himself in his people and in their virtues rediscovers the formative and constructive qualities of his own character and temperament, has certainly established itself between his spirit and his people.

He, the hard architect of gigantic constructions, with a tender and meek soul, found himself facing the whole world, from which his adolescence had been fascinated. That small world of the first age that contains within its borders all the dream of man, before the harshness of reality pushes us to engage in the battle of life and affirmation, from which we emerge either winners or losers, forever.

This battle, Anthony Campagna fought it whole, he was able to win it admirably. And his return to the old land of his fathers resembles that of a triumph. But he, with his calm brow, with the warm and mobile light of his eyes, with his heart of a child and of a poet, still had the supreme nobility of mind not to want to appear in the light of the victor of his life. And among the good humble people of his native Castelmezzano, who know how to fertilize the ear with the sweat of his brow and make the harsh vine blossom on the rough slope, he wanted to appear as equals, tracing in each of his countrymen that his friend celebrated him of distant time, the one who remained while he went, the one who did not walk and did not progress on the path of destiny, while he has traveled so much and so much has built of destiny with his best fervor and with his boldest soul.

Wonderful man lawyer Campagna! And how would anyone who wanted to reconstruct his human figure without knowing him, would be mistaken, only through the data of his industrial activity!

The days that, in his recent trip to Italy, Anthony Campagna spent in the green and peaceful hermitage of his native village, Castelmezzano of Basilicata, were for him benefits of peace and rest, like a wash of the soul. To see him abandon himself there to the joy of ancient friendships, within the old walls of the domestic house, surrounded by his affections and by his purest and holiest things, one had the impression, especially for those who know his temperament as a formidable fighter, as a tireless worker , to witness the rest of an athlete after a great victory. The joy of finding himself in his land swarmed clear from his sharp gaze, illuminated his forehead with an almost childlike joy, which was expressed in moving re-enactments, in surges of admiration in front of the green and fresh beauty of the woods of the rivers of the countryside of Basilicata. The land has a special attractive charm for Anthony Campagna’s good and simple soul. He loves the greasy smell of freshly ground clods, he feels the deep and mysterious poetry of germination and flowering, he still knows how to lull, as in the beautiful adolescent years, a gentle dream of his on the swaying of a great blond sea of ​​dazzled ears from the sun, bent by the weight of the fruit, like a slender girl’s neck with heavy hair. He seemed transfigured. Where was the iron and stone builder used to spend his days in the feverish roar of construction sites between palisades and warehouses, between machines and workers, hard and provident, inexorable and just, or in the industrious silence of his studio in to create or to review projects to build with lines and figures rather than with concrete and steel?

The light of his native land had penetrated his soul. He enjoyed the love shown to him by his fellow citizens, he suffered like a passion the beauty full of memories of his small alpine village, cut into the living rock and almost engraved like a setting in the mountains. He was like the eagle that has found its high nest on the top of the centuries-old fir and demonstrates its contentment in large solar flights. Thus, the spirit of Anthony Campagna sparkled with vivacity, sparkled like the good ruby wine of our sunny vineyards. And his whole soul as an indomitable craftsman calmed down in that bliss which was made of earth and sky, of evocation and emotion, of purity and simplicity alone.

The only regret that clouded his joy of those days was the too rapid flight of time. And who knows if then, Anthony Campagna, overwhelmed by the wave of sentiment, has not thought of concluding his cycle as a fighter to close, after so much turmoil of activity, after so many industrial victories, after so many battles and so many claims of Italianness by him accomplished in America, in the immensely happy and pure rural quiet, so ardently coveted by his spirit that he never ideally departed from his native land, so he knew and wanted to remain devoted and faithful to her in an attachment whose tests are almost inexhaustible and continual. In fact, even in his last return, Anthony Campagna has generously donated to his country, of which he wants in every way to hasten the civil rebirth. Apart from the fifty thousand lire destined for the pious works of Potenza and for which the Royal prefect and his kind wife, Donna Graziata Reale Salis, addressed beautiful letters of thanks to him and his good lady, he has assigned the following to his country sums. Five thousand lire for the Infantile Kindergarten, two thousand five hundred for the Combatants Section, twenty thousand for the Rural School.

All this is a demonstration of the highest spirit of humanity and regional solidarity. And if, together with these, one thinks of Anthony Campagna’s infinite donations for works of great national interest, both in America and in Italy, one immediately has the clear feeling of finding ourselves in front of a patriot and a philanthropist, who he wants to use himself not for a selfish and utilitarian purpose, much less voluptuous, which is little enough for the exemplary simplicity in which he and his family live, but of the wealth accumulated with his work he wants to make a weapon of social elevation, making use of it to achieve the highest ends of life and for the good of his homeland.

The figure of the industrialist of Anthony Campagna, however eminent, can remain alien to us, leave us indifferent, or, at the most, that essential parochialism which is at the basis of the character of us Basilicates, forced to be the new Jewish people of the world and therefore recalled by the most instinctive voices of the race to solidarize in every part of the world, can be satisfied. But the human figure, the figure of a man by Anthony Campagna cannot fail to thrill us, because it participates in the same impulses of our soul and identifies our passion for the homeland, of the family, in its own passion.

This ruler of materials, this accumulator of immense wealth, has remained as it is like each of us. The ideal value of life has not failed in his conscience, as often happens to those who seize luck for both wings. He works today as at the beginning of his exciting career. He has today, that he could have everything, the same modest needs as when he could have only a little. And his chosen companion of, Miss Maria, sister of the Paternos, is as simple and good, as helpful and charitable as he, to whom she is happy to have linked her destiny as a woman and as a mother. On this journey, she accompanied her husband, together with her two children, Joseph and John, two very intelligent and very polite youngsters, who promise very well to walk in the footsteps of their parents’ example. And in Castelmezzano, Anthony Campagna also had with him his mother, the good lady Agata, also a native of Castelmezzano, who faithfully accompanied her son in all his ascension, in all his conquest, helping him with all her maternal soul and with her inspired advice of love in the hours of doubt and hesitation. And the wife, and the mother, and the children are united by the people in the same triumphal welcome they gave to Anthony Campagna. And the same flowers of gratitude, pride, love, fell from the hands of the people on the heads of all the members of the beautiful Campagna family, which is followed, now that it has returned from the ocean, by the blessing voices of how many were benefited by it during his stay in Basilicata. They are the innocent voices of the children gathered in the Nursery School of Potenza and those of their mothers; the choirs of the orphans; the trembling voices of the old men from the “R. Acerenza” hospice from Potenza. They are the vigorous voices of the peasants, of the ex-combatants, of all the dispossessed of Castelmezzano who raise their grateful hearts on both hands to Anthony Campagna as an offering.

And to him, now that he has returned to his vanguard position in the immense struggle of industrial competition, in New York, and to the beautiful battles of Italianness, to him and his chosen consort, to his lilies (sons) who will continue tomorrow the generous work of the father, go to the Italy that he adores, our proud greetings from fellow countrymen and admirers.

The Banquet Offered by our Director to Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna • Written in 1927

The daily press of Naples and that of Basilicata gave the widest diffusion to this event, which transcended the limits of the pure and simple convivial gathering to reach a meaning of consensus and unanimous applause to the very Italian work of industrialists and philanthropists that the two typical exponents of the most characteristic virtues of our strong and simple and steadfast and constructive Lucanian race, Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna, perform uninterruptedly and passionately across the ocean, in the land of America. The lawyer Giovanni Riviello said with pride that he truly, on the memorable evening of June 30, 1927, was able to rally the Lucan soul, inviting him to honor himself and his own abilities of asceticism in the people of Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna, the life of which it is all an admirable and luminous example and the proof reached of the inexhaustible resources of will and power, which our people have for their inevitable becoming.

It was the first time that Basilicata residing in Naples – and when we say Basilicata of Naples we mean men who lead the intellectual movement of the great Mediterranean metropolis, or who in Neapolitan life occupy all first-rate positions in any field of activity – human beings, free professions, trade, industry – it was the first time that they gathered in such a totalitarian and significant demonstration. And our Director, in taking the initiative to group them all around Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna, as well as to render and make the two magnificent artists of the good name of Italy abroad pay the highest honor, to the two athletic builders, who with their work show themselves every day more and more up to the new times and the mighty new history of their homeland, aimed also at this: that is, to place, next to each other, all the most distinguished and most deserving Lucanians of the science, literature, schools, politics, commerce, industries, art, the judiciary, the forum, finance, public administrations, journalism, so that together they ideally evaluate how far one has traveled and how much remains to travel to reach the ideal end of the economic and moral resurrection of our Region. Great purpose, to which every good Basilicatese must bring his contribution, albeit in the form of a basket of rubble to the construction of the grand building.

Nobody misses the appeal of the Director of “La Basilicata nel Mondo.” And this shows that our magazine has truly become what it set out to become: the soul, the voice of our entire land, of all the Lucanians at home and abroad.

Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna with his elected consort could not have been more nobly and enthusiastically honored. The flower of ingenuity, of virtue, of Lucanian activity, those – the old ones – who today wave the torch of conquest on the peaks, and those – the young – who will have that torch in their fist tomorrow, all paid solemn homage to their ascension, to their patriotism. Having come to Italy to carry out a very lofty mission of Italianness, they felt that the soul of their old sorrowful land had understood them and greeted them with its highest generous jubilation. It was not, no, the spell of the thousand and thousand lights of Naples, liquid turquoise siren, that on the evening 30 June 1927 shone before the fascinated eyes of the Lucanians gathered on the hill of San Martino, next to the glorious Certosa, around Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna. But it was the thousand peaks of our mountains that rose, lighting up with the color of our hopes, from the deepest heart, ours! And everyone felt, in that hour of emotion and discovery that only one thing mattered. Raise hearts high, feed the flame, for our Region!

For the chronicle of the magnificent and unprecedented Lucanian regional gathering, we report in full the report made by “Il Giorno,” the newspaper that once belonged to Matilde Serao.

“On the evening of June 30, 1927, in the splendid room of the” Restaurant Miranapoli, ” at Vomero, the most elected and most representative part of the Basilicates residing in Naples, at the invitation of the Management of the magazine” La Basilicata nel Mondo” gathered around to the grand official Joseph Paterno and to the lawyer Anthony Campagna, to testify to these two magnificent tempers of Lucanian builders, of New York, who have deserved the praise of the Duce for their continuous work of Italian character in the United States of America, and above all for their munificence in favor of the “Italian House of Culture” which recently arose in Columbia University, on the initiative of these Italians, all the gratitude, admiration, pride that the men of the old earth birthed and nourished for this reason steadfast and simple champions of all the most heroic virtues of the Lucanian people.

The initiative of such a beautiful event belongs to that wonderful organizer and great heart of Lucan and lawyer Giovanni Riviello, director of “La Basilicata nel Mondo” and it was worthy of the nobility of intentions of its initiator.

The most distinguished politicians, in fact, the most illustrious scientists and teachers, the clearest magistrates, lawyers, literate scholars, artists, publicists, traders, industrialists, who truly honor, with their ingenuity and their integrity, the Italy and Basilicata responded to the invitation of the important magazine with an enthusiasm of enthusiastic consent. And a crown of over one hundred guests seated at the table around Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna, praising them and their patriotic virtues, while an elect group of gentlewomen and young ladies surrounded the virtuous and noble consort of Anthony Campagna, Miss Marie, who is the sister of Paterno, and therefore also of the proud Lucanian blood.

To the “champagne” they toasted, arousing enthusiastic cheers, the lawyer Giovanni Riviello, Senator Camillo Mango, the Honorable Nicola Sansanelli, extraordinary fascist commissioner of Naples and Campania, the lawyer Saverio Siniscalchi, fascist federal secretary for the province of Potenza.

I thank, with a moved soul, with pride of Italian and of Lucanian, with a simple oratory, admirable of effectiveness and clarity, lawyer Anthony Campagna, who illustrated the program of the “Italian House of Culture” in New York and referred to the judgment of distinguished Americans, on the new Italy and on the right of Italy to be considered the cradle of civilization in the world. His mention of his native Basilicata arouses a delirium of applause.

Concluded the series of speeches, with a very nice improvisation, the Grand Official Joseph Paterno, who was much applauded.

Lastly, the lawyer Giovanni Riviello read the accessions received, including those of His Excellency the Minister of Public Instruction Honorable Pietro Fedele, of the Prefect of the Province of Potenza, Grand Official Reale, of the senators Professor Vincenzo Terrace, Giustino Fortunato, and Giuseppe Di Lorenzo, of Professor Doctor Fabrizio Padula, of the Honorable Vincenzo Janfolla, of the Attorney General of the Court of Appeal of Naples, Commendatore Ferdinando Cammarota, of Professor Doctor Nicola Longo, of the Commendatore Doctor Vito Fiore, of the engineer Adolfo Di Giura, of Mr. Raffaele Lauria, of Professor Cleto Carbonara, of the judges Bonomo and Mainieri of the Court of Naples, of the Honorable Bartolo Gianturco, and the lawyers Luigi and Emanuele Gianturco, who at the last moment were unable to attend the banquet due to a bereavement in their family.

Among the speakers we noted: the lawyer Giovanni Riviello with his very distinguished lady, the Honorable lawyer Nicola Sansanelli and his private secretary Professor Tricarico, the Honorable lawyer Saverio Siniscalchi and lady, Honorable Senator Camillo Mango, Doctor Professor Giuseppe Disella and his wife, as well as the distinguished and intelligent daughter Miss Anna, Doctor Professor Giovanni Castronuovo, Doctor Professor Vittorio De Bonia, Doctor Professor Vincenzo Lenzi, Professor Commodore Gaetano Briganti, Professor Floriano Del Secolo, Doctor Professor Giuseppe Cristalli, Doctor Professor Giuseppe Lucibelli, the Commodore Francesco Scapaccione, chief curator of the Mortgages of Naples, Knight of the Great Cross lawyer Diodato Sansone, former Prefect of Naples, the lawyer Commodore Nicola Vaglio, Professor lawyer Nicola Stolsi, the Cavaliere Emanuele Petraccone, receiver-head of the Naples registry, Commodore Guido Mango, the painter Angelo Brando with his lady and young lady, Doctor Luigi Briganti, Commodore Paolo Buonasorte, the lawyer Consalvo Pascale, the lawyer Commodore Giovanni Bronzini and lady, the judge Commodore Rocco Casella and madam, the major medical doctor Vincenzo Polosa, the Deputy Attorney of the King Lawyer Gerardo Albanese and lady, the lawyer Ignazio La Grotta, investigating judge of the Court of Naples, Professor Francesco Maglietta and lady, Commodore lawyer Michele Maglietta, Professor Paolo de Grazia, Dr. Ferdinando Santoro, the lawyer. Domenico Papa, the lawyer Nicola Alfredo Fiore, the lawyer Ugo Janfolla with his sister Miss Giuseppina, Baron Ruggiero Cianci di Sanseverino, Dr. Leopoldo Ricciuti, Cavaliere office lawyer Felice Ninni, Eng. Michele Buccico, the Commodore Diego Molfese, the Deputy Attorney of the King lawyer Giuseppe Michele d’Adamo, Commodore lawyer Michele Raia, councilor of the Court of Appeal, Professor Cavaliere office Pietro Musacchio, Royal Inspector at the Department of Studies, the Deputy Prosecutor of the King lawyer Giovanni di Muro, Grand officer Nicola Giannini with the other two members of the Firm “F. Giannini and Son” editor of “The Basilicata in the World” Misters Salvatore and Nicola Giannini, the Honorable Professor Prospero Guidone director of the “Loreto” Hospital Professor Doctor Francesco Blast, the Ragioniere Giuseppe Graziadei and lady, Professor Giuseppe Zito and his daughter Signorina Menuccia, the lawyer Luigi Castronuovo, Professor Maurizio Romeo, Cavaliere Giuseppe Chiummiento and lady, the lawyer Raffaele Cafiero, the Commodore Geppino of Naples, Dr. Alessandro Pugliese, the pharmacist Carmine Parrella, the Podesta of Castelmezzano, the native town of the lords Paterno and Campagna, Mr. Saverio Paterno, Mr. Vincenzo Lombardi also from Castelmezzano, the Deputy Prosecutor of King Biagio Petrocelli, Dr. Rosario Dursio, the notary lawyer Cavaliere Antonia Summa, Dr. Antonio Orofino, Mr. Carlo Giacummo, the lawyer Paolo Di Bello and others.

[Note: Podesto Saverio Paterno is the older brother of Joseph Paterno. Carmine Parrella may have been the father of Michael Parrella who married Celestina Paterno, Saverio’s daughter. Vicenzo Lombardi may have been the husband of Maria Arcangelo Campagna, Anthony’s sister.]

The magnificent Lucanian gathering, which assumed the importance of a great regional manifestation of the most eminent Basilicates of Naples, pleasantly dissolved late in the day, leaving in everyone’s mind the sense of the highest solidarity of all the Lucanians around his mindful children and to “La Basilicata nel Mondo.”

The Prefect Grande Office Royal Visit Anthony Campagna in Castelmezzano • Written in 1927

This is how our correspondent from Castelmezzano informed us at the time of the visit of the prefect of Potenza to Antonio Campagna in his native town.

Castelmezzano had the high honor of the visit of the Prefect of the Province Grande Officer Ernesto Reale.

Never, none of the many Prefects who passed through the palace of the Prefecture of Potenza had deigned to come to us, to visit this small town hidden among the rocks, which make it one of the most interesting municipalities in Basilicata.

From this we can understand how great was the expectation of this population, and how keen the desire in everyone to pay homage to the distinguished man who holds the sorts of our poor province with infinite love.

When the news spreads in the village, I do not hide the fact that the general satisfaction for this extraordinary event turns into a feeling of sincere gratitude towards the person of the Grand Official lawyer Anthony Campagna, our illustrious fellow citizen, who, returning from the distant Americas, had been in Castelmezzano for a few days for a short period of rest.

And the gratitude of this generous population is explained by the fact that the visit of the major political authority of our province was determined precisely by the presence in Castelmezzano of Anthony Campagna, one of the most deserving Italians of the homeland abroad, towards whom Benito Mussolini had recently words of high and deserved praise.

The expectation of the population was not disappointed, because just the announcement, in two car-automobiles, the Grande Officer arrived. Dr. Ernesto Reale and two relatives of him, the Cavaliere officer Francesco Errichelli, deputy federal secretary, came to replace the lawyer. Seneschal who had not been able to leave Naples due to slight indisposition, the lawyer Alfonso Andretta of the Press and Propaganda Office, Cavaliere Francesco Telesca of the special secretarial office of the Prefect and former schoolmate of Antonio Campagna. At the entrance of the town, and properly under the Palazzo Paterno, the Prefect and his entourage were received by the Podesta, Lord Saverio Paterno, by the Grand officer lawyer Anthony Campagna, by the political secretary of the local Fascio Colonel Maglietta, by the lawyer Giovanni Riviello, director of “Basilicata nel Mondo”, who came expressly from Naples, by Dr. Paterno, health officer of the Municipality, by the other authorities. Upon arrival there were lined up, in perfect order, the table and the small Italians with a unit of the militia, and over a thousand citizens.

As soon as the Prefect got out of the car, the usual presentations took place, and then the Head of the Province was very happy to pose for a film that lawyer Campagna brought with him from America for remembrance of the solemn date. Who turned the camera to collect the film was the youngest of the sons of the lawyer Campagna, the likeable and very intelligent John, who, together with his other brother, Joseph, are very fond of the beauties of this small and very glorious country of ours.

After the introductions, an impressive procession was formed which headed for the Municipal House.

Here the Podesta, Cavaliere Saverio Paterno, greeted the head of the Province with the following words:

“To the Head of the Province, who with high and exquisite political tact governs the destinies of our land; to the Federal Deputy Secretary who worthily assists the Secretary, lawyer Siniscalchi, who, due to slight indisposition, could not be here today, to the lawyer Giovanni Riviello, who so skillfully disseminates with his magazine the virtues and works of the Lucanians, who in a foreign land keep the name of Italy high and honored, I am grateful to offer, at this moment, my devoted, respectful greeting and that of the entire citizenship of which I make myself a sincere interpreter.

“This little village hidden among the Dolomite rocks, not used to receiving such illustrious guests, today quivers with a heartbeat of joy and feels the need to pay homage to you, to show you the feeling of devotion of the citizens simply and frankly, as well as simple and straightforward and the their life.

“Your visit has a high significance and shows the interest of the authorities for civil progress and for the moral and economic revitalization of even the smallest countries always forgotten by the past governments.

“You well know that this community still lives isolated from the civil consortium: it has no roads, no water, nothing that can make it worthy of a civil region, and you, illustrious Royal Prefect and distinguished Deputy Federal Secretary, we are sure you will be interested of the real, felt, indispensable needs of this citizenship, needs that we will allow ourselves to outline with a brief reminder that I will keep you in a few days.

“I am proud to be able to say that this country boasts men who make the luminous beacon of the greatness of Italy shine with their works even in distant metropolises and with a generous heart they are always among the first to respond to the call of the Fatherland, and the Fatherland does not he could better express his gratitude for their generosity than by remembering their native country.

“Expressing once again our deep gratitude for the high honor given to us with your visit which will remain an unforgettable memory, I invite you to shout with me: Long live the King! Long live the Duce!”

The prefect, Grande Official Dr. Ernesto Reale, thanked the citizens for the very cordial welcome given to him and thanked the Podesta for the words addressed to him. He said he knew all the Italian work that the Paterno brothers and the lawyer Campagna held in the United States, and he was certain to interpret the Duce’s sentiment of the new Italy by promising all the Government’s interest in Castelmezzano.

I bring the salute of the fascists the colonel Cavaliere Maglietta, secretary of the local section.

The ceremony ended with the ritual distribution of refreshments, after which the guests passed to the Palazzo of lawyer Campagna, where an intimate lunch was offered by the lawyer Campagna himself. In addition to the Prefect with the two brothers-in-law, they returned to the canteen. Campagna with his Lady, the lawyer Giovanni Riviello and Lady, the Podesta of Castelmezzano Cavaliere Saverio Paterno and Signora, the Cavaliere Official Francesco Errichelli deputy federal secretary, the lawyer Alfonso Andretta, colonel Cavaliere Maglietta, the Cavaliere F. Telesca, Dr. Paterno, health officer of the Municipality, the lawyer F. Brindisi, the mother and the two children of the lawyer Campagna, as well as the sister of these Signora Maria and brother Alfredo with his wife, brother-in-law siv. Vincenzo Lombardi, the young daughters and son of the Podesta and other close relatives of the Campagna family.

Lunch was served with great elegance by the restaurant of the Moderno Hotel in Potenza, while the ice cream service was done by the well-known pastry shop Viggiani, also from Potenza. In a word, it could not offer more chic and more elegant hospitality, naturally worthy of Anthony Campagna.

At the campaign start the series of speeches the Cavaliere Francesco Errichelli who bring the greetings of the lawyer Siniscalchi and the Fascist Federation of Basilicata to the illustrious dormitory that gives so much honor to Italy abroad.

Dr. Paterno, health officer of the Municipality, wanted to outline the most salient points of Anthony Campagna’s adventurous life as a student before, in Italy, the daring flight he took for the distant Americas.

The lawyer Giovanni Riviello, director of “La Basilicata nel Mondo,” with a nice phrase and vivacity of word, reveal the intimate life of Anthony Campagna, whom he had the opportunity to know and appreciate last year in America during his journalistic mission, and said that at the threshold of his own home Anthony Campagna changes his soul as a businessman and in the temple of his family tranquility, in the finished garden of his joys as a son, a husband, a father, he finds his simple soul of a Lucan who remained faithful to the traditions and worship of the family, as they are sacred in this land of his origin, and from them he draws the deepest, the truest joys of his spirit.

The Prefect Grande Official Dr. Reale I greet the new Italian in Anthony Campagna, which follows: The great progress that the homeland makes every day, and does everything to make itself worthy of this, contrasting the luminous figure of this eminent son of Basilicata, who knows how to complete the entire his duty as an Italian, to the many renegades who swear the name of Italy every day abroad. In a happy and moving improvisation, the illustrious Head of the Province praises the virtues of the people of Basilicata all over the world and the happiness and prosperity of Anthony Campagna and his family.

Lastly, the lawyer Anthony Campagna, greeted by great applause, after thanking, with nobility of word, the previous speakers and especially the prefect Grande Official E. Reale, for the honor granted to him and to the citizens of Castelmezzano with this visit, which will remain indelible in the hearts of all, I give a short speech marked by elevated concepts and a wonderful expression of homeland sentiment, arousing consensus in the listeners and admiration.

Towards evening the Prefect, with his entourage from Potenza, left Castelmezzano, not without having first expressed to this Podesta, Saverio Paterno, all his satisfaction for the excellent conditions in which he found the town, especially as regards the internal roads of the built-up area. He repeats the promise of wanting to take an interest in the prompt solution of the most urgent problems affecting citizenship.

Castelmezzano will perpetually remember the magnificent day of celebration and promise spent around the illustrious Head of the Province and his elected son Anthony Campagna.