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CHAPTER 44
A Brief History of the Casa De Italia,
Inc. in Santo Domingo
By Renzo Seravalle
Engineer and President of Casa de Italia
and
Dr. Rolando Forestieri
Professor of History of Political Doctrines at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD)
•
e are aware that since the 1930s, Italians residing in Santo Domingo have wanted a place where
they could meet and that would specifically be called Casa De Italia. We also know that Amadeo
Barletta made available a plot of land on what is now Avenida George Washington, near the corner
of Avenida Pasteur, for the construction of the Casa de Italia. For reasons that we do not know, the
targeted location was changed to a site elsewhere along Avenida George Washington, closer to Plaza Guibia.
The next and final decided-upon location was a large plot of land donated by Angiolino Vicini Trabucco,
extending from what is currently Calle 27 de Febrero to Calle Pedro Henríquez Ureña. This plot of land, do-
nated to the Italian government, was purposed for the building of the offices of the Legation, the Consulate of
Italy, a school, and the headquarters of Casa de Italia.
A letter in our possession details an article that appeared in the
Listín Diario
newspaper dated January 27,
1938, stating:
Construction of ‘Casa de Italia’ will begin soon. It will be a beautiful and modern building based on
the plans that we have seen. They were drawn up by the engineer Alfredo Scaroina and are displayed
in the window front of Pasquale Forestieri’s business located on Calle El Conde. The Legation and
Italian Consulate will be located at this site, as well as a modern school. The Minister of Italy, Com-
mander Mario Porta, is behind the initiative for this venture, and this project has been enthusiastically
welcomed by the Italian community established in the country.
This first Casa de Italia failed, because World War II erupted shortly thereafter, resulting in the defeat of
Italy and other Axis powers in May 1945. Afterward, in the 1980s, most of the donated land was exchanged
for a residence on Calle Rodríguez Objío, near the corner of Calle Galván and close to the National Palace
(which was built by the Italian engineer Guido D’Alessandro and where the offices of the Italian Embassy and
the Consulate were located).
Later on, toward the end of the 1980s, a distinguished Dominican Italian revisited the idea of having
Casa de Italia as a place for the now rather large Italian and Italian-Dominican communities. That individual
was Professor Rolando Forestieri, a graduate of La Sapienza University in Rome with a doctorate in political
science and specialization in history. In the mid-1970s, he began his career as a professor at three Dominican
universities: Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo; Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña; and
Universidad Católica Santo Domingo. He worked concurrently to promote Italian culture in the country
through the Instituto Cultural Domínico Italiano, Inc., an institution that he founded and directed, beginning