Luigi V. Fugazzi (April 30, 1839 – August 6, 1930;

anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

as Fugazy), nicknamed Papa Fugazy, was an

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

banker, businessman, and philanthropist who became one of the most prominent in the United States. He emigrated to the United States in 1869 and established a bank and a service company for Italians in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

South Village The South Village is a largely residential area that is part of the larger Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City, directly below Washington Square Park. Known for its immigrant heritage and bohemian history, the architecture of the ...

. He also established and supported many Italian

mutual aid societies A benefit society, fraternal benefit society, fraternal benefit order, friendly society, or mutual aid society is a society, an organization or a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit, for instance insurance for relief fr ...

and

fraternal organizations A fraternity or fraternal organization is an organized society of men associated together in an environment of companionship and brotherhood; dedicated to the intellectual, physical, and social development of its members. Service clubs, lineage so ...

in the city.

Early life

Luigi V. Fugazzi was born to a wealthy family in

Santo Stefano d'Aveto Santo Stefano d'Aveto ( lij, San Stê) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria. Santo Stefano d'Aveto borders the comuni of Bedonia, Borzonasca, Ferriere, Rezzoaglio and Tornolo. Geogr ...

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, on April 30, 1839. His father was a teacher in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. Luigi served as an officer in the Royal Piedmontese Army, being briefly assigned to a unit commanded by

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

, and was considered a hero of the

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. In 1869, he emigrated to the United States. He married Maria Fugazzi and had six children, including the

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

promoter

Humbert Fugazy Humbert J. Fugazy (January 28, 1885 – April 7, 1964) was a New York City boxing promoter around the 1930s. The Fugazy Bowl is named after him in his honour. He was also the owner of the Brooklyn Horsemen of the first American Football Leagu ...

New York businessman

When Fugazy arrived in the United States, he had already learned to speak English and possessed a substantial

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

from his father. He changed his surname from Fugazzi to Fugazy in order to assimilate into American culture. He established several businesses in

, first opening a bank, and acting as a notary public. Poor Italians deposited their money with him to safeguard it from thieves and

con artists A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...

. He also ran a company that provided services to Italians, such as translation and letter-writing, and became a

travel agent A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinatio ...

with a

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

company. His businesses provided services to thousands of

Italian immigrants The Italian diaspora is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended in the ...

living in New York. Fugazy also provided legal advice to Italians to assist them with the

American legal system The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as v ...

. He conducted his businesses out of his home at 157

Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was ...

in the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, which he purchased on September 21, 1904. As a result of his prominence in Italian communities in New York City, Fugazy became seen as a benevolent padrone, and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported his nickname of "Papa Fugazy". Edith M. Thomas described him as "one of the best-known Italian bankers" in New York City, and

Gay Talese Gaetano "Gay" Talese (; born February 7, 1932) is an American writer. As a journalist for ''The New York Times'' and ''Esquire'' magazine during the 1960s, Talese helped to define contemporary literary journalism and is considered, along with T ...

described him as "perhaps the most eminent padrone in the United States".

Civic and philanthropic activities

Fugazy became involved in

New York City politics The city government of New York City controls a budget of abou$78.3 billion a year, as of 2016 Officials receive municipal funding for their campaigns, and are elected for a maximum of two terms. City government is dominated by the Democratic Part ...

and was closely connected with

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

, acting as a liaison between the

political machine In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...

and Italian communities. Fugazy was a significant promoter of over 100 Italian

and

in New York, and founded several of his own, including the Societa Santo, the Societa G. P. Riva, and Lodge Mazzini. He also encouraged existing ones to join together in a citywide federation, rather than operating only in their specific neighborhoods. Fugazy also founded the Italian Hospital in Manhattan, and was one of the first

trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

and a significant benefactor of Our Lady of Pompeii Church. In 1890, the

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader, ...

Umberto I Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900. Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...

, granted Fugazy the title of

chevalier Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Belgian nobility France * a rank in the French Legion d'h ...

of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

. In 1910, King

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promoted him to the rank of

commendatore Commendatore (singular), Commendatori (plural), is an Italian word originating from the latin phrase In commendam and meaning "Commander". It may refer to: Position, rank, title * Commander (order) ( it, Commendatore), the title of honour "Command ...

Death

Fugazy died at his home on Bleecker Street on August 6, 1930. A solemn

requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

was held on August 9 at St. Anthony of Padua Church. Thousands of people lined the sidewalks as his body was conveyed from his home to the church, and there were over 1,000 people in attendance inside the church. Among the dignitaries present were Congressman

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...

, judges and members of the city government, and the minister provincial of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Province of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

. Fugazy was buried in Calvary Cemetery in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. At the time of his death, Fugazy's bank was valued at $275,000, equivalent to $ in , and had more than 600 depositors. His family was required by law to sell the bank's charter upon his death. They retained ownership of the travel agency, which became the Fugazy Travel Bureau.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fugazy, Luigi V. 1839 births 1930 deaths People from the Province of Genoa Italian Army officers Italian emigrants to the United States Italian bankers American bankers 19th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American philanthropists Italian philanthropists Philanthropists from New York (state) Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Businesspeople from New York City Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy)