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The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is honored to announce and welcome its new president, Robert V. Allegrini. Mr. Allegrini is a public relations and hospitality executive, author, civic leader and diplomat who brings a wealth of experience in Italian American affairs to his new role at NIAF. Most recently, he served for more than a de...

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Robert Allegrini, the longest-serving member of the Milan-Chicago Sister City Committee, was named its co-chairman at the Chicago Sister Cities board meeting in February. First appointed to the committee by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1989, Allegrini has served under more than half a dozen committee chairs and worked with eight different Milan mayors...

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On March 14, 1891, 11 Sicilian immigrants who had been falsely accused of murdering the police chief of New Orleans were shot and hung by a mob of thousands in the largest mass lynching in American history. The 130th anniversary of that dark day was marked in Chicago with a moving commemoration in Arrigo Park hosted by the Joint Civic Committee of...

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After hearing that teams of Italian frogmen had sunk the only two British battleships left in the Mediterranean in December of 1941, British Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham stated, “We are having shock after shock out here. The damage to the battleships at this time is a disaster. One cannot but admire the cold-blooded bravery and enterprise of these...

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A sense of deep “hurt” and confusion swept through the city’s Italian American community Friday, hours after the removal of two Christopher Columbus statues in the dark of night. “Are we happy about it? Absolutely not. As a community, we are extremely hurt,” said Sergio Giangrande, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, which...

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In this week’s episode, we’re wrapping up our two-part look at the Northern Italian impact on Italian American life by criss-crossing these great United States to discover Northern Italian enclaves from California to Idaho and everywhere in between! Our special guest, and Northern Italy expert, Robert Allegrini, takes us on a tour across the countr...

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We tend to focus a lot on our Southern Italian roots here at the Italian American Podcast, but today we’re asking…  “What’s up North?” This week’s episode is the first in a two-part series featuring special guest and Northern Italy expert Robert Allegrini, the honorary consul of San Marino in Chicago, where we will dig into a history of the contrib...

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The Most Serene Republic of San Marino has named Robert Allegrini as its Honorary Consul in Chicago. The title was recently bestowed on Allegrini during a ceremony in San Marino presided over by the country’s co-heads of state, the Captains Regent. San Marino becomes the 88th country to have official diplomatic representation in Chicago. As consul,...

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