Sam Lucchese

{{Short description|Businessman and impresario (1868–1929)}} {{Infobox person | name = Sam Lucchese | image = Sam Lucchese.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = February 24, 1868 | birth_place = Palermo, Sicily, Kingdom of Italy | death_date = January 15, 1929 | death_place = San Antonio, Texas, US | resting_place = Saint Mary's Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = | known_for = | education = | alma mater = | employer = | occupation = {{hlist|Businessman|impresario}} | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = Frances Battaglia | children = 5, including Josephine | relatives = }} '''Sam Lucchese''' (February 24, 1868 – January 15, 1929) was an Italian-born American businessman and impresario. He was the founder of the Lucchese Boot Company and the owner of Spanish-language theaters in San Antonio and Laredo, Texas.

==Early life== Sam Lucchese was born on February 24, 1868, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy.<ref name="elizabeth">Elizabeth C. Ramírez, "LUCCHESE, SAM," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fluan), accessed July 16, 2015. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.</ref> He immigrated to the United States in 1883 with his parents and siblings, settling in San Antonio, Texas.<ref name="elizabeth"/><ref name="briscoe">[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/01552/cah-01552.html A Guide to the Lucchese Boot Company Records, 1910-1968], Dolph Briscoe Center for American History</ref>

==Career== Lucchese was a businessman. In 1883, he co-founded the Lucchese Boot Company with his brother in San Antonio.<ref name="elizabeth"/><ref name="briscoe"/>

With the revenue from his boot company, Lucchese opened Spanish-language theaters in San Antonio and Laredo.<ref name="haneyarticle">{{cite journal |last=Haney |first=Peter C. |title=Bilingual Humor, Verbal Hygiene, and the Gendered Contradictions of Cultural Citizenship in Early Mexican American Comedy|journal=Journal of Linguistic Anthropology |volume=13 |issue=2 |page=168 |jstor=43102607 | date = December 2003 |doi=10.1525/jlin.2003.13.2.163 |hdl=1808/9943 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In 1912, he acquired the Teatro Zaragoza on the corner of Commerce Street and Santa Rosa Street in San Antonio.<ref name="elizabeth"/><ref name="haneyarticle"/> Five years later, in 1917, he acquired the Teatro Nacional, located at the same intersection in San Antonio.<ref name="elizabeth"/><ref name="haneyarticle"/> An impresario, he hired actors from Mexico to perform in his theaters.<ref name="elizabeth"/>

==Personal life== He married Frances Battaglia.<ref name="elizabeth"/> They had three sons and two daughters. Their son Gaetano "Tano" Lucchese ran the family's Spanish-language theaters<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=March 9, 1949 |title=Lucchese's Rise Meteoric |work=San Antonio Light |pages=28-31}}</ref>, expanding the collection in San Antonio to include the Alameda Theater and Casa de Mexico International Building.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 21, 1947 |title=FOREIGN TRADE: The Best of Everything |url=https://time.com/archive/6775682/foreign-trade-the-best-of-everything/ |access-date=December 18, 2025 |work=Time Magazine}}</ref> Daughter Josephine Lucchese became a renowned opera vocalist<ref name="elizabeth" /> and performed at the opening night of the Alameda Theater.<ref name=":0" />

==Death and legacy== He died of a stroke on January 15, 1929, in San Antonio, Texas.<ref name="elizabeth"/> He was buried at Saint Mary's Cemetery. After his death, his son Cosimo took over the Lucchese Boot Company.<ref name="elizabeth"/><ref name="briscoe"/> His grandson, Samuel James Lucchese, succeeded him, and designed boots for many actors.<ref name="briscoe"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Find a Grave|50043931}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucchese, Sam}} Category:1868 births Category:1929 deaths Category:Businesspeople from Palermo Category:Italian emigrants to the United States Category:Businesspeople from San Antonio Category:Entertainers from San Antonio Category:Businesspeople from Texas Category:American company founders Category:American businesspeople in fashion Category:Theatre owners Category:Italian impresarios Category:American impresarios