Vincent Massari (November 29, 1898 – November 16, 1976) was a member of the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...

for 22 years, from 1955 to 1976, the year of his death. He served five two-year terms in the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

, from 1955 to 1965, representing Pueblo County. He was elected three times to the

Colorado Senate The Colorado Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about 123, ...

, in 1964, 1968 and 1972. For 42 years he served as president of the Columbian Federation of Italian-American Societies founded on Columbus Day October 12, 1893, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. His legislative efforts led to the establishment of Southern Colorado State College in 1961, known today as

Colorado State University Pueblo Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado. It is a member of the Colorado State University System (CSU System) and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). History 1933 to 1959 The idea for startin ...

Biography

Vincent Massari, originally named Vincenzo Massari, was born in Luco dei Marsi ( AQ),

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, on November 29, 1898. He emigrated from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1915, after studying at a

Catholic seminary This is a list of Catholic seminaries in the world, including those that have been closed. According to the 2012 Annuario Pontificio, Pontifical Yearbook, the total number of candidates for the Priesthood (Catholic Church), priesthood in the wor ...

in the town of

Penne Penne () is an extruded type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces, their ends cut at an angle. ''Penne'' is the plural form of the Italian ''penna'' (meaning ''feather'' but ''pen'' as well), deriving from Latin ''penna'' (meaning "feather" or " ...

(now part of the

province of Pescara The province of Pescara ( it, provincia di Pescara; Abruzzese: ') is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Pescara, which has a population of 119,483 inhabitants. As of 2017, it has a total population of ...

), just a few days before the devastating

1915 Avezzano earthquake The 1915 Avezzano earthquake or 1915 Fucino earthquake occurred on 13 January in central Italy at . The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicenter was located in the town of Avezzano ...

, which resulted in thousands of casualties. Upon arriving in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

to Ellis Island, he settled in

Las Animas County Las Animas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,555. The county seat is Trinidad. The county takes its name from the Mexican Spanish name of the Purgatoire River, originally c ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, before finally moving to Pueblo with his parents. As a staunch

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

, he worked in journalism and served in trade unions as a teenager, collaborating with newspapers primarily read by

Italian Americans 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, w ...

. He wrote for and managed editorial offices such as ''L'Unione'' (approximately from 1925 to 1945), founded by Hector Chiariglione, one of the fathers of Columbus Day, and ''Marsica Nuova'', a newspaper that Massari founded in 1918. Through its pages, he published news from Abruzzo and came into contact with important figures of Italian anti-fascism such as

Carlo Tresca Carlo Tresca (March 9, 1879 – January 11, 1943) was an Italian-American newspaper editor, orator, and labor organizer who was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the 1910s. He is remembered as a leading public opponent of fas ...

. He has covered topics such as the history of

Fucino Lake The Fucine Lake ( it, Lago Fucino or ) was a large endorheic lake in western Abruzzo, central Italy, stretching from Avezzano in the northwest to Ortucchio in the southeast, and touching Trasacco in the southwest. Once the third largest lake i ...

and the years after its drainage, as well as the reconstruction of Marsica following the

Avezzano Avezzano ( or ; nap, Avezzàne, label=Neapolitan language, Marsicano ) is a city and ''comune'' with a population of 40,819 inhabitants, situated in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in th ...

earthquake. He also promoted the works of

Ignazio Silone Secondino Tranquilli (1 May 1900 – 22 August 1978), known by the pseudonym Ignazio Silone (, ), was an Italian political leader, novelist, and short-story writer, world-famous during World War II for his powerful anti-fascist novels. He was no ...

, publishing the novel ''

Fontamara '' Fontamara'' is a 1933 novel by the Italian author Ignazio Silone, written when he was a refugee from the Fascist Police in Davos, Switzerland. It is Silone's first novel and is regarded as his most famous work. It received worldwide acclaim ...

'' in installments on ''L'Unione''. In 1937, he was elected president of the Columbian Federation of Italian-American Societies and became a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Pueblo. In 1954 he ran for the

and served in the house for 10 years until he moved to the state senate in 1965. In 1960 he received the Star of Italian Solidarity from the President of the Republic

Giovanni Gronchi Giovanni Gronchi, (; 10 September 1887 – 17 October 1978) was an Italian politician from Christian Democracy who served as the president of Italy from 1955 to 1962 and was marked by a controversial and failed attempt to bring about an "openi ...

, in recognition for having cemented the good relations between Italy and the United States. He was elected to the

three times, serving from 1965 to 1976 as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Thanks to his political dedication, the

was established as an official institution in 1975.

Death

Massari died on November 16, 1976, age 77, in the Colorado State Hospital. The

Massari Arena Massari Arena is a 3,900 seat multi-purpose arena in Pueblo, Colorado. It was built in 1971, and underwent a reconstruction starting in 2006 and ending in 2008. The arena is the home of the Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderWolves men's ...

, in Pueblo, is dedicated to his memory.

Personal life

Vincent Massari was married to Amalia Perasso on August 21, 1917. They had two daughters: Angelina and Rose. One of his great-granddaughters is Judy A. Massare, famous

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

specializing in

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

marine reptile Marine reptiles are reptiles which have become secondarily adapted for an aquatic or semiaquatic life in a marine environment. The earliest marine reptile mesosaurus (not to be confused with mosasaurus), arose in the Permian period during the ...

research.

References

Bibliography

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External links

L'emigrante che diventò senatore in America
RAI {{DEFAULTSORT:Massari, Vincent Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American legislators Democratic Party Colorado state senators County commissioners in Colorado People from the Province of L'Aquila People from Pueblo, Colorado Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives 1898 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Colorado politicians