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Sunday, December 17, 2023

Santa Claus and the Italian Diaspora in the Arctic

 



Italians immigrated to almost all parts of the world, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, Latin America, and the North Pole. Wait...what?? The North Pole? Yes, the North Pole; we all know Santa Claus lives there, along with his wife, some elves, and maybe a few reindeer, but what you probably didn't know was that Santa was Italian.

Okay...well...yeah...that's not exactly all true either. Santa Claus, the real-life model being Saint Nicholas of Myra, is now entombed in the Italian city of Bari. So in reality he never made it to the North Pole, but is now Italian, though he is only Italian through "adoption" since he was born and lived his whole life in what is now Turkey. 

According to Lfe in Italy, "San Nicolò di Bari began life in the late third century AD as the son of a wealthy Christian family in Patara, a Greek-speaking colony of the Roman Empire located in modern Turkey. There is little historical documentation on his early life, but it is known that he became Bishop of Myra while still a young man. His life as a cleric spanned through the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian and later Galerius, to the eventual legalization of Christianity by Constantine. During that time span, San Nicolò is known to have destroyed pagan temples in his diocese and participated in the pivotal Council of Nicea in 325 AD, where he spoke out against the Arian heresy. One legend claims that San Nicolò slapped the heretic Arius in the face during the Council. This is a rare case of the saint showing a temper, as most legends and tales attributed to San Nicolò are of a much gentler kind."

A Legend Begins

As further explained by Justin Demetri writing for Life in Italy, "There are numerous versions of this legend, but they all begin with a poor man that could not afford dowries for his three daughters who, as a consequence, were not considered suitable for marriage. With no other opportunities available, the poor man was considering forcing his daughters into prostitution (some versions say they were going to be sold into slavery). When San Nicolò caught wind of this horrible situation, he decided to use his inherited wealth to help the three young women. On three separate occasions, late at night, San Nicolò secretly tossed bags of gold through an open window of the poor man’s house. According to one version of the legend, they landed in shoes or stockings that were drying by the fire. The first two sacks of gold allowed for a proper dowry for the two eldest daughters, but the poor man wanted to find out who the mysterious gift-giver was. In some versions, the poor man catches San Nicolò in the act, only to have the pious saint-to-be crediting God with the gift.

"However, there is another version of the story that says San Nicolò, who understood the poor man wanted to catch him in the act, decided to drop the third sack of gold down the chimney, instead of using the window, as he did for the previous two. After providing dowries for the three daughters, the generosity of San Nicolò began to spread. After that, it was believed that any anonymous gift made in his diocese of Myra was attributed to him."

The Bishop of Myra Becomes Italian

Life in Italy goes on, "San Nicolò is said to have died of old age on December 6th in 343 AD, a rarity in a time when most saints were martyred. His bones were laid in a Greek sarcophagus in the cathedral of Myra, which became a popular pilgrimage site shortly after his death.

"For over seven hundred years San Nicolò’s relics lay in Myra. However the city was then conquered by the Seljuk Turks, who threatened the safety of the pilgrimage site. In 1087, sailors from Bari arrived in Myra and stole the bones from the church in a race against Venetian sailors who wanted to do the same. On May 9th, 1087 the sailors returned to Bari with the holy relics of San Nicolò, where in 1089 they were placed in a new crypt by Pope Urban II. The people of Bari built an enormous Basilica over his bones, which now directed pilgrims to Southern Italy instead of Asia Minor. With a much safer pilgrimage route, San Nicolò became one of Western Europe’s most popular saints."

 According to the CNN article The Italian town where Santa Claus is buried | CNN, Bari is now trying to capitalize on tourism by making the world know (or think?) that it's the final resting place of the "real Santa Claus":

"A new awareness is spreading among some Baresi, eager to boost efforts to exploit the Nicholas-Santa link and turn Bari’s Christmas connections into a tourist highlight. Many spots in Bari are named after the saint. There’s a San Nicola bakery, a stadium, a bar, a hotel and an orecchietteria (a shop where traditional handmade earshaped orecchiette pasta is sold). In December actors walk around town alternatively dressed as Santa and San Nicola. 

"Paco Ricchiuti, head of Velo Service, a local tourist operator, has started to cash in on Bari’s Christmas tie. He organizes guided tours to the basilica and the local museum where Saint Nicholas artifacts are held. Other tour stops include San Nicola stadium, a research center dedicated to the saint and wall paintings around the town that have turned Saint Nick into a pop-art hero.

"In the Bari Vecchia historic district, there are various murals of the local hero, including one in which he’s doing yoga. Ricchiuti says he wants to turn Bari’s Christmas link into a brand.

“We take visitors on guided walking, bike and rickshaw tours, the vehicles have just been painted with images of San Nicola and Father Christmas, and we like to take actors dressed as both along to enhance the experience,” he says. Tourists are also treated to the popular San Nicola beer made with local ingredients. A smaller beer bottle called “Nicolino” features an image of the saint on its label.

"Brewer Paola Sorrentino says she created the beer to pay homage to the saint, who’s also the protector of beer-makers and strangers. “I’m Neapolitan and this city has welcomed me with open arms, just like its patron. Plus I’m a brewer so what better way to celebrate and thank San Nicola,” she says.

"Souvenir T-shirts bearing the image of San Nicola can also be bought in Bari, but Ricchiuti says the town should do more to sponsor the Christmas link worldwide.

“I’m happy that the real Santa is buried in my hometown, which is the origin place of the myth of Santa Claus,” he says. “People around the world envy this and we don’t realize how blessed we are.”"

They celebrate hm on his feast day of December 5th: "Celebrations for Saint Nicholas Day begin in Bari on the night of December 5. Locals attend Roman Catholic Mass at dawn the next day and then tuck into hot chocolate, pancakes and sticks of fried polenta called sgagliozze.," says CNN, "Street concerts are held as the statue of San Nicola is paraded through the old district to a huge Christmas tree. Bars and pastry shops are open non-stop."

"San Nicolò – How Did He Become Santa Claus?

"So how did this pious and generous saint become a jolly fat man delivering presents on Christmas Eve?," Life in Italy explains. "The origin of the American Santa Claus stems from the traditions surrounding San Nicolò, but is more directly influenced by the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas. As stated above, San Nicolò was one of Europe’s most popular saints, and traditions of gift giving on December 5th, the eve of his feast day, were widespread. The Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas gets its name from a shortened version of San Nicolò’s name in Dutch – Sint Nikolaas- and he is portrayed wearing the robes of a Catholic Bishop. This tradition was brought over by Dutch settlers to their colony of New Amsterdam and when the British took over the settlement, which later became New York City, they also took on the tradition of the gift giving Sinterklaas. The new settlers mispronounced the Dutch name, and so Sinterklaas became Santa Claus.

"As the Santa Claus myth grew, the character became an entity unique to American culture, and started to resemble the historical San Nicolò less and less. Even though the Santa Claus tradition is so far removed from the veneration of San Nicolò, the most important parts have never changed. Both San Nicolò and Santa Claus are devoted to children and both are kind, gift giving figures known for their charity and selflessness...." 

In the American version of San Nicolo di Bari, Santa Claus, though some of his bones are entombed in Italy, somehow the rest of him is living in a village in the North Pole. How this Greek-speaking Catholic Bishop from modern-day Turkey ended up living there or why he choose to reside in such an isolated, cold and lonely spot (save for his wife and elves) rests somewhere in the annals of legend and myth, but I can personally deduce that he picked it for its central location making it easier to deliver gifts all over the World. So only one question then arrives: why aren't there pilgrimages to the North Pole? Well actually a few questions come up, like are there Greek or Italian restaurants in the Arctic? (I'm guessing there's a pizza place.)

So yes, long story short, Santa Claus is an Italian immigrant of Greek (modern day Turkey) origin that is now a citizen of the Arctic. And I will be asking my parish priest to organize a trip there, though we may wait until Summer. 

You can read more about "Santa Claus" here:

San Nicolò di Bari - The Original Santa Claus - Life in Italy

The Italian town where Santa Claus is buried | CNN

Saint Nicholas - Wikipedia

Santa Claus: Real Origins & Legend | HISTORY

saint nick italy - Search (bing.com)

santa claus - Search (bing.com)



Monday, November 13, 2023

Recap: NIAF United Nations Welcome Reception

 


THE NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN FOUNDATION
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NIAF among the first Italian American organizations to be recognized as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with Special Consultative Status by the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)!
To commemorate this momentous occasion, on the evening of November 1st, the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations welcomed a delegation of NIAF's Board of Directors for a reception at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Foundation leadership was joined by several notable diplomats from the General Assembly of the United Nations, Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, Permanent Mission of the United States of America to the United Nations, and the President of the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

🎥 NIAF Welcome Reception at the UN Recap Video: Click the link below to watch the recap video!
 
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I am not Italian

 

 

I am not an Italian. I am a proud, patriotic American. I was born and raised in the United States, I look at the world from an American perspective, and I am a product of American culture, in particular its pop culture. Admittedly, my lifestyle, my belief system, both politically and religiously, my taste in movies, TV shows, music, food, clothes, and so on... were all shaped by American mass culture, that is pop culture, than any customs and traditions my parents and grandparents had. Sure, we ate pasta on the Holidays along with traditional "American" foods (see my articles "Thanksgiving, Italian-American Style" and "Ideas On How To Celebrate An Italian American Christmas" here), sure, my older relatives would speak a foreign language when they didn't want me and my siblings to know what they were talking about, -in this case the language was Italian, - and yes, our last names ended in vowels as compared to my "fellow" White American classmates who had names like Smith, Brown, and Johnson. We had our own religious traditions too, but they weren't really anything ethnic, just Catholic customs that most other Catholics shared. So why is the focus of this website specifically Italian history and culture in California? Why do I even care about it?


Though I came from a thoroughly de-raciated, very stereotypical assimilated White American background with few vestiges of Italian culture, I attended culturally and racially diverse schools. In these schools both on the playground and in a classroom setting as part of a study course, I was forced to reckon with my racial and cultural background. Not satisfied with just being "White," and therefore no different from the Smiths and Johnsons, when I finally recognized my family's Italian background, no matter how faded it now was, I not only became proud of it, but I wanted to know more about it.... 


Being forced to think about my family's history and race got me researching both. I always knew we were of Italian descent, but I never recognized the significance of that, and it was never a major part of my everyday life. I was only around anything that could be called "Italian" when I was around my grandparents, and even that wasn't a lot. Everything else about Italians I only knew from Hollywood, and Hollywood hasn't always been kind to us. As I learned about the history of Italian immigrants in the United States in general, living in California as I was, I started focusing more on that region of the country regarding them, and after doing so, I became very angry.


Angry because I was cheated! So much rich history, fascinating stories and customs, that wasn't taught in schools. The largest mass lynching in American history wasn't in my school text books, for example. And everything we were told about Italians- the Roman Empire, the Italian renaissance, so on... I looked at as an outsider... I never knew that we were learning about my very own ancestors. Unlike my black, Hispanic and Asian friends who have whole chapters dedicated to their heritages in America and can identify with the characters in those chapters by the very fact that they are identified as Hispanic, Black and Asian. But no one ever called me "Italian" or "Italian American." Why is an American with black skin called "African American" even though they were never in Africa and may know nothing about African culture? But when I call myself "Italian American" or "European American" I get laughed at?


But I digress.... the point is I fell in love with my family's Italian history and customs, even if we don't practice them much if at all anymore, and dedicated my life to preserving, celebrating, and promoting them. I no longer call myself "Italian," or "Italian-American," or even "American-Italian." Because my everyday lifestyle does not reflect anything "Italian," but was formed and created by American pop culture. I AM AN AMERICAN. Who has a love for history and culture, for learning about other nations and cultures, so why not start with the nation and culture of my ancestors, Italy? I am an American.... of Italian descent thanks to my ancestors, and an American who loves all things Italian (but second to my love of America.) And this website and blog focuses on Italians in California because I happen to live in that American state.

Little Italy San Diego Tree Lighting & Christmas Village December 2nd, 2023

 


Little Italy Tree Lighting & Christmas Village


PHOTOS WITH SANTA

They are here!  Click here to download your picture with Santa, for FREE, from the 2022 Little Italy Tree Lighting & Christmas Village.


SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2023 FROM 4:00PM TO 8:00PM

Ho Ho Ho… Can you hear those jingle bells? This year SANTA IS BACK for our annual Little Italy Tree Lighting and Christmas Village on Saturday, December 3rd from 4:00pm-8:00pm!

Transforming into a winter wonderland with Christmas twinkle lights down all the streets, our beautiful urban neighborhood will be adorned with 10-foot tall nutcrackers and kinetic tree holiday displays on street corners, Christmas songs and more. Family, friends, and neighbors are invited to come together to experience true holiday joy at this family-friendly event and enjoy the neighborhood’s festive décor—including two Christmas trees, Joshua Hubert’s Aurora tree at Piazza Basilone and the permanent 25-foot tree at Piazza della Famiglia, seasonal vendors, live music and entertainment, holiday treats, a traditional Italian tree lighting ceremony, and this year SANTA IS BACK to grant everyone’s Christmas wishes!

You can also enjoy... read more here.

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Thanksgiving "Italian American Style"



Thanksgiving is coming up soon this year for us Americans and being a quintessential and distinctive American holiday, I’m sure many of us want to keep it as traditional as possible. That is with the traditional foods: turkey and stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, corn (on or off the cob), and desserts like Pumpkin Pie. But as a free and diverse nation we sometimes mix it up a bit and add bits of our ancestral culture to make our celebration our own and unique. In my own family we would have a zucchini casserole, and along with the Turkey, as a main dish some sort of pasta, usually Manicotti or Stuffed Shells. Lasagna and meatballs was and still remains the main course on Christmas for us. For dessert, along with American favorites like Pumpkin and Apple pie, we’d have cannoli, biscotti, and some sort of Italian cookies.


Before I go on let me explain briefly the story of Thanksgiving, for those who don’t know. Traditionally we were taught that it was a meal shared between the Pilgrims and Native Americans in the new Plymouth colony back in the 1600s to celebrate and thank the Natives for helping the Pilgrims learn to survive in their new environment. The “Pilgrims” were British Puritans looking for a new land to freely practice their religion and eventually landed in what is now Massachusetts. This meal is said to have occurred around the first Harvest time in November. It was made an official holiday by President Abraham Lincoln on October 3rd, 1863 in honor of the ending of the Civil War.


Traditionally, Americans would use it as an opportunity to gather with family to share a large meal, celebrate and give thanks for…well….anything. It’s just a time to remind us to appreciate what we have in life, especially our families.


In addition to food, adding a few Italian dishes to the American table, for entertainment in the background my family, our gatherings usually organized by older members, would have old Italian American favorites singing. Names like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and so on. Yet another distinctive Italian American trait of our very American Thanksgiving and other family gatherings is “The Italian Goodbye.” At the end, when each of our usual 50 or 60 guests go to leave, each one has to say goodbye to each individual personally and inevitably get into a long conversation with each one. Consequently it takes at least an hour for each guest to go from saying the first “Goodbye” to actually getting out the door. To say nothing of getting into their cars and finally driving away!


But I digress…for ideas on how to have a Thanksgiving “Italian American style” click on this Google search link and feel free to comment here on what, if anything, your family does to make Thanksgiving Italian.


Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Auguri!

Santa Claus and the Italian Diaspora in the Arctic

  I talians immigrated to almost all parts of the world, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, Latin America, and the North Pole. Wait...what?...