{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Vincent Massari | image = Vincent Massari.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Vincent Massari and his family in 1921 | state_senate = Colorado | district = 25th | term_start = January 9, 1973 | term_end = November 16, 1976 | state_senate1 = Colorado | district1 = 19th | term_start1 = January 8, 1969 | term_end1 = January 9, 1973 | state_senate2 = Colorado | district2 = 17th | term_start2 = January 12, 1965 | term_end2 = January 8, 1969 | state_house3 = Colorado | district3 = Pueblo County | term_start3 = January 11, 1955 | term_end3 = January 12, 1965 | birth_date = November 29, 1898 | birth_place = Luco dei Marsi, Italy | death_date = {{death date and age|1976|11|16|1898|11|29|mf=y}} | death_place = Pueblo, Colorado | party = Democratic Party | spouse = Amalia Perasso | children = Angelina, Rose | alma_mater = | profession = Newspaper editor and politician | website = | footnotes = <ref name=SOS1>{{cite web |url=https://historicalelectiondata.coloradosos.gov/eng/candidates/view/15061/ |title=Vicent Massari (D) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Colorado Secretary of State |publisher= |access-date=July 14, 2023}}</ref><ref name=SOS2>{{cite web |url=https://historicalelectiondata.coloradosos.gov/eng/candidates/view/7111/ |title=Vincent Massari (D) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Colorado Secretary of State |publisher= |access-date=July 14, 2023}}</ref> }} '''Vincent Massari''' (November 29, 1898 – November 16, 1976) was a member of the Colorado General Assembly for 22 years, from 1955 to 1976, the year of his death. He served five two-year terms in the Colorado House of Representatives, from 1955 to 1965, representing Pueblo County. He was elected three times to the Colorado Senate, in 1964, 1968 and 1972.<ref name=SOS1 /><ref name=SOS2 /> For 42 years he served as president of the Columbian Federation of Italian-American Societies founded on Columbus Day October 12, 1893, in Chicago, Illinois. His legislative efforts led to the establishment of Southern Colorado State College in 1961, known today as Colorado State University Pueblo.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=April 7, 1961 |title=Governor signs four-year college bill creating Southern Colorado State College |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=ARW19610407-01.2.2&srpos=21&dliv=none&e=-------en-20--21--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22southern+colorado+state+college%22+1961-------0------ |url-status=live |work=The Arrow |location=Pueblo, Colorado |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714181834/https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=ARW19610407-01.2.2&srpos=21&dliv=none&e=-------en-20--21--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA-%22southern+colorado+state+college%22+1961-------0------ |archive-date=July 14, 2023 |access-date=July 14, 2023}}</ref>
==Biography== Vincent Massari, originally named Vincenzo Massari, was born in Luco dei Marsi (AQ), Abruzzo, on November 29, 1898.<ref>{{cite book |last=De Stefano |first=Alessio |author-link= |date= 2023|title=Vincent Massari: Cronache di un abruzzese d'America |url= |location=Capistrello |publisher=Radici Edizioni |page=19 |isbn=9791281235052}}</ref> He emigrated from Italy in 1915, after studying at a Catholic seminary in the town of Penne (now part of the province of Pescara), just a few days before the devastating 1915 Avezzano earthquake, which resulted in thousands of casualties. Upon arriving in the United States of America to Ellis Island, he settled in Las Animas County, Colorado, before finally moving to Pueblo with his parents. As a staunch anti-fascist, he worked in journalism and served in trade unions as a teenager, collaborating with newspapers primarily read by Italian Americans. 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,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://orderisda.org/culture/stories/an-unknown-father-of-columbus-day-and-the-colorado-city-embroiled-in-one-of-the-most-intense-standoffs-surrounding-its-columbus-monument/ |title=An Unknown Father of Columbus Day and the Colorado City Embroiled in One of the Most Intense Standoffs Surrounding Its Columbus Monument |author=Marianna Gatto |publisher=Italian Sons & Daughters of America |website=orderisda.org |access-date=July 13, 2023}}</ref> and ''Marsica Nuova'', a newspaper that Massari founded in 1918.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biblio.com/book/vincent-massari-1897-1976-italian-lion/d/803994501 |title=Marsica Nuova, Volume 1, Number 1, November 26, 1918 |publisher=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection |website=biblio.com |access-date=July 13, 2023}}</ref> Through its pages, he published news from Abruzzo and came into contact with important figures of Italian anti-fascism such as Carlo Tresca. He has covered topics such as the history of Fucino Lake and the years after its drainage, as well as the reconstruction of Marsica following the Avezzano earthquake. He also promoted the works of Ignazio Silone, publishing the novel ''Fontamara'' 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 Colorado House of Representatives 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, in recognition for having cemented the good relations between Italy and the United States.
He was elected to the Colorado Senate three times, serving from 1965 to 1976 as a member of the Democratic Party. Thanks to his political dedication, the Colorado State University Pueblo was established as an official institution in 1975.<ref name=Alessio>{{cite book |last=De Stefano |first=Alessio |author-link= |date= 2023|title=Vincent Massari: Cronache di un abruzzese d'America |url= |location=Capistrello |publisher=Radici Edizioni |pages=23–157 |isbn=9791281235052}}</ref>
==Death== Massari died on November 16, 1976, age 77,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=November 17, 1973 |title=Italian Lion dead at 77 |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=GOT19761117-01.2.38&srpos=7&dliv=none&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-vincent+massari+died-------0------ |url-status=live |work=Golden Transcript |location=Golden, Colorado |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714184126/https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=GOT19761117-01.2.38&srpos=7&dliv=none&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA-vincent+massari+died-------0------ |archive-date=July 14, 2023 |access-date=July 14, 2023}}</ref> in the Colorado State Hospital. The Massari Arena, in Pueblo, is dedicated to his memory.<ref name=Alessio /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.repubblica.it/cultura/2023/02/28/news/vincent_massari_labruzzese_che_fece_conoscere_silone_agli_americani-389981581/ |title=Vincent Massari, l'abruzzese che fece conoscere Silone agli americani |author=Maurizio Di Fazio |publisher=la Repubblica | language = it |access-date= July 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ilcentro.it/cultura-e-spettacoli/vincent-massari-il-marsicano-che-port%C3%B2-silone-negli-usa-1.3086786 |title=Vincent Massari, il marsicano che portò Silone negli Usa |author=Fabio Iuliano |publisher=il Centro | language = it |access-date=July 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gothunderwolves.com/athletics/recruits/facilities/massari |title=Massari Arena – Colorado State Pueblo |website=Gothunderwolves.com |accessdate= July 13, 2023}}</ref>
==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 specializing in Jurassic marine reptile research.<ref name=Alessio />
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{Cite book |last=De Stefano|first=Alessio |year=2023 |title=Vincent Massari: Cronache di un abruzzese d'America|publisher=Radici Edizioni |location=Capistrello |language=it |isbn=9791281235052}} *{{Cite book |last=Dodds|first=Joanne West |year=2005 |title=Vincent Massari 1897-1976: The Italian Lion|publisher=LaFamiglia Italiano|location=Pueblo |isbn=9780977421510}}
==External links== * [https://www.rainews.it/tgr/abruzzo/video/2023/03/vincent-massari-marsica-america-emigrazione-silone-abruzzo-7c38c1f0-b46e-4918-b711-5cdd7cd4c004.html L'emigrante che diventò senatore in America] RAI {{in lang|it}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massari, Vincent}} Category:Italian emigrants to the United States Category:Democratic Party Colorado state senators Category:County commissioners in Colorado Category:People from the Province of L'Aquila Category:Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Category:1898 births Category:1976 deaths Category:20th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly Category:Politicians from Pueblo, Colorado