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83
sone Maimone (1883-1962), also born in Santa Domenica Ta-
lao, served as the Italian consul in the city and was the founder
of the society “Sons of Italy for the orphans of war,” which he
created to help the children who lost families in World War II,
and which earned him the decoration of the Order of Merit of
the Italian Republic in the rank of Knight in 1957.
107
Finally, the
siblings Vicente (d. 1963) and Flor Sarnelli (d. 1968), natives of
Bracigliano, Naples, were the founders of the traditional bakery
that bore their surname, after having founded a similar estab-
lishment in Puerto Plata.
108
In the recent past, it should be mentioned that the priest
Juan Artale Gnolfo (1927-1996), a Salesian born in Sicily, was
the initiator of the Salesian Polytechnic of Santiago (IPISA) in
1988;
109
María Victoria Menicucci Mella, granddaughter of Or-
este Menicucci, was the first woman to hold the presidency of
the Santiago Chamber of Commerce and Production (2010-
2014);
110
and Orlando Menicucci Morel, the grandson of Oreste
Menicucci, dedicated the Biennial of Visual Arts 2018.
111
A descendant of Italians, Mario Pezzotti brought the first bi-
cycle with gear change and handlebar brakes that was known in
Santiago.
112
A grandson of Genaro Cantisano (Maratea, March
21, 1869 - Santiago, January 7, 1928), Dr. Rafael Cantisano Ari-
as (1927-2017), recognized as a Master of Dominican Medicine,
was the founder of the Northern Italian Center in 1997, pro-
moting the naming of Calle Italia in the Reparto del Este sector; a founding member and president of the Med-
ical Association of Santiago (1962-1963) and the North Regional Dominican Medical Association (1963-1964);
president of the Dominican Medical College (1964); president of the Dominican Red Cross (1965-1966); and
co-founder of the School of Medicine of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra.
113
Juan Héctor José Stefani, better known as Bullo Stefani, was a grandson of the Piedmontese Pedro Stefani.
A sports chronicler, promoter and organizer, he was also an athlete and the first secretary of the Association of
Sports Writers of Santiago. He was elevated to the status of Dominican sports legends in 1992.
114
A close relative, María Stefani Espaillat (1884-1972), daughter of Pilade Stefani Virgani and Sofía Espaillat Espail-
lat, was the author of various
zarzuelas
, chairwoman and board member of the Ladies Club, queen of the Santiago
carnival in 1911, the inspiration for the first Mother’s Day celebration in 1926, cofounder of the Santiago Coun-
try Club in 1931, and the first Dominican woman to direct films, as evidenced by her films on the inauguration
of La Otra Banda irrigation canal by President Horacio Vásquez, the delivery of the resolution of the Santiago
city council by the ruling “Adopted Son” (1928), the welcome accorded by the city of Santo Domingo to the fa-
mous Basque boxer Paulino Uzcudun, and the actions of the Dawes mission in the Vásquez government (1929).
115
A well-known son of Alberto Campagna Pezzotti in Santiago was Dr. Aníbal Campagna García. An attor-
ney, he was also a candidate senator for the province of Santiago on behalf of the Unión Cívica Nacional in
the December 1962 elections, the first democratic elections held in the country after the fall of the Trujillo dic-
tatorship. He was conscripted into the Italian army, in compliance with compulsory military service, prior to
the Second World War. He served as Senate majority leader during the constitutional government of Colonel
Francisco Alberto Caamano Deñó.
116
The daughter of Genaro Pezzotti Schiffino (1894-1983), Filomena Teresa Pezzotti Hernández (1921-2019),
better known as Minucha, arrived from Santa Domenica Talao through Puerto Plata in 1910. She was the
owner of the Irma children’s shoe factory, as well as popular radio announcer, and the wife of broadcaster
H.E. Ambassador of
the SOM Francisco
Rainieri, during the
reception offered in
honor of the visit of
King Juan Carlos and
Queen Sofia of Spain,
at the National Palace,
on May 31, 1976.
© Rainieri Family
THE ITALIAN PRESENCE IN THE CIBAO REGION AND IN SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS