Julia Mancuso - Olympic Champion

Julia Mancuso

Julia Marie Mancuso (born March 9, 1984) is an American World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. She won the giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and was the silver medalist in both downhill and combined in 2010, and the bronze medalist in the combined in 2014. She has also won five medals (two silver and three bronze) at the World Championships and seven races in regular World Cup competition. Her four Olympic medals are the most ever for a female American alpine skier.

During the Olympic Alpine Skiing competition in Torino in 2006, former Olympic gold medal winner Picabo Street stated what a big disappointment the U.S. women skiers have been up to the point. Right after she said that, 21 year old Julia Mancuco skied her perfect gold medal winning Giant Slalom race (see above). Even the Italian fans present cheered for that "Mancuso" girl from Lake Tahoe. If Olympic medals are the chief manner of judging success, Julia has gone on to win two more silver medals (Vancouver 2010) and a bronze medal (Sochi 2014). She is half Calabrian and half Cisalpine ancestry.

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More famous Cisalpines..

Richard Crenna

..or likely Cisalpines. These are not necessarily the most famous, but just a few familiar names, mostly from more modern times.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - English poet, illustrator, and painter.

Téa Leoni - Well-known American actress.

Richard Crenna - Famous American actor. To me, his powerful role as Colonel Sam Trautman in 'First Blood' most comes to mind.

Christopher Lee - Famous English actor. Just passed away this week. He was in one of my favorite movies, the original 'The Wicker Man'.

Fred Ascani - American Air Force Major General.

Amanda Richetti

Amanda Righetti - Emerging American actress.

Fabio Viviani - Famous chef from Florence.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini -Famous Genoese mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and engineer. The "Cassini-Huygen Mission to Saturn and Titan" was co-named in his honor.

Joseph Rocchietti - Well-known American novelist, born in Piedmont.

Francis B. Spinola - Union Army Brigadier General during the Civil War; New York Representative in the House 1887-91.

Laura Pausini - Famous pop singer from Emilia-Romagna.

Daryle Lamonica - Won four straight Western Division titles (three AFL and one AFC) and one American Football League Championship with the Oakland Raiders. Lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II.

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli - Famous architect of Russian nationality and Tuscan ancestry.

Primo Carnera - Heavyweight Champion of the World 1933-34; from Fruili.

"Veronica Veronese" by Rossetti 1872

Renée Jeanne Falconetti - Well-known French stage and film actress of Cisalpine descent. Played Joan of Arc in silent movie in 1928; 'The Passion of Joan of Arc' is considered one of the greatest early films.

Matteo Ricci - From Marche, he was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. His 1602 map of the world in Chinese characters introduced the findings of European exploration to East Asia. Within Roman Catholicism, he is considered a Servant of God.

Tina Modotti - From Udine, she was an Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist for the Komintern (Communist International). Later joined family in San Francisco.

Merle Pertile - From California, she was the Playboy centerfold of January 1962.

Adam Vinatieri - Current American football placekicker, 20 year NFL veteran, and has played on 4 Super Bowl Championship teams.

Patricia Zentilli -Well-known Canadian actress from Ontario.

Lisa Rinna - Long time popular American actress.

Lidia Bastianich -Well-known American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur. Current tv host of "Lidia's Kitchen."

Sonny Barger - Founder of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

Joe Arpaio -Well-known Arizona sheriff.

Timothy Dalton -Famous British actor.

Beverly D'Angelo - Popular American actress. She was in one of my favorite movies, 'National Lampoon's Vacation'.

Lita Ford - Well-known British and American rock guitarist.

Jenna Jameson - Former adult film star, once called "the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer."

Charles Poletti - The 46th Governor of New York. From Barre, Vermont, a city with many people of Lombard descent; although his family was from Piedmont.

Cassini-Huygens, named after Giovanni Domenico Cassini

Steve Bisciotti - Owner of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.

Prince Rainier - High profile Prince of Monaco, ruled for 56 years.

Rick Santorum - American Senator from Pennsylvania. Republican candidate for president in 2012 and in 2016.

Gwen Stefani - American singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. She is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band No Doubt.

Tom Tancredo - American Congressman from Colorado 1999 to 2009. Ran for President in 2008, and Governor in 2010.

Susan Sarandon - Academy award winning actress.

Christina Ricci - Popular American actress.

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Famous Cisalpines outside of Padania: Part 1

Diane Cilento - probably a Cisalpine

The problem with identifying people of Cisalpine ancestry is three-fold. One, there's often no way to be certain. For example, Olympic gold-medalist Alpine skier Julia Mancuso appears to be Cisalpine from appearance and where she is from. She is actually half Calabrian and half.. Irish, German, something or another.

Two, it's not necessarily all that important anyway. Enrico Fermi was from Rome, and is actually of Piedmontese ancestry. There have been famous and important Cisalpines in the United States far beyond what logic would dictate. However, a community doesn't absolutely need these types of role-models.

Three, with many races or ethnic groups, there can exist a type of ungenuine "cult of celebrity." Certain people will run around trying to "make claim" on as many famous people as possible. Often these celebrities could care less about their ancestry in the first place! I'm tempted to give a few colorful and humorous examples of this, but something tells me that it's not a good idea. Suffice to say that those individuals who you associate with on any concern, are really the important people for that concern.

I thought that I would share just a small sampling of certain well-known people who I have come across or were suggested to me by others as possible Cisalpines. After this, I'm not going to keep track of this subject as a general rule. Just for the record, a "Padanian-American" is a "European-American" with some genuine roots in the former "northern nations." It's safe to say that not all of the following people are of Cisalpine ancestry.

Grammy nominee Francesca Battistelli, from New York City, is a star of the Christian music genre. Attorney, Prosecutor, and Author Vincent Bugliosi, from Minnesota, is most famous as the Prosecutor in the trial of Charles Manson. Graciano Rocchigiani is a former world super middleweight and light heavyweight boxing champion. He was born in Germany of Italian parentage, and looks like a German which makes me think his parents may have been from perhaps Lombardy. Actress Rene Russo, from California, is Italian on both sides, presumably Cisalpine.

Geraldine Ferraro - probably not a Cisalpine

Someone seems to have told me that young actress Brittany Curran, from Massachusetts, has some Cisalpine roots. The late World War II Medal of Honor recipient Mike Colalillo, from Duluth, Minnesota, is an Italian-American. Duluth is an area with deep roots for people of Lombardian and Cisalpine ancestry. Tony Iommi is the former guitarist for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath (lead singer Ozzy Osbourne). Born in Birmingham, England of Italian parentage.. possibly Cisalpine. Actor Jim Caviezel, from Washington state, has some Romansh roots. The Romansh language is of Latin origin, and was once much more prevalent in northeast Italy and Switzerland.

Someone seems to have told me that Canadian actor Enrico Colantoni was of Cisalpine descent. Actress Beverly D'Angelo, from Columbus, Ohio, always has seemed to me to have Cisalpine roots. I really don't know, but I loved 'National Lampoon's Vacation'.. which has an almost cult following even today. The late Geraldine Ferraro is a former vice presidential candidate for the Democrat Party, and an Italian-American from a town about sixty miles north of New York City. Her mother was from Campania in Southern Italy, but it just seems that she may have Cisalpine roots on her paternal side.. perhaps not. The late Jeno Paulucci was an important businessman and entrepreneur from St. Louis County, Minnesota (county seat is Duluth). He founded over seventy companies, including Bellisio Foods, and was likely of Lombardian or Cisalpine ancestry.

The late former Major League Baseball Shortstop and Manager Jim Fregosi was born in San Francisco and raised in San Mateo County. As you can see, he has a long resume with numerous records, and was very likely of Cisalpine ancestry. A few years ago, there was a long article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the history of "San Francisco Italian" Major League baseball players.. which I lost. They were virtually all Cisalpines, and it was quite a history; however, we must admit that the most famous was a Sicilian, Joe DiMaggio. The late Australian actress Diane Cilento was an Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress ('Tom Jones'; British; 1963; with Albert Finney and Susannah York). She was well known to American audiences, and it's a pretty good bet that she was a Cisalpine.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a famous poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He was born in London of Italian parentage, and was very likely of Cisalpine ancestry. The lifelike detail in his art was truly amazing, as well as beautiful. James A. Baffico--born in San Francisco in 1942 when the city was heavily Cisalpine--is a television soap opera director, producer, actor, and script writer. Film composer Marco Beltrami, from New York City, has a very Cisalpine surname. Sabina Magliocco  is a professor of Anthropology and Folklore at California State University, Northridge. Born in Topeka, Kansas to Italian immigrant parents, she may be of Tuscan descent.

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Linda Evangelista: Supermodel

 

Linda Evangelista has been a famous "supermodel" for a long time now, having started her career in 1984; and has been featured on the cover of over 600 magazines. She was born in Ontario, Canada; of immigrant parents from Latium.

Linda Evangelista (from Wikipedia)

Born: May 10, 1965 (age 48); St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Years active: 1984–1998 (retired), 2001–present
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)

Hair color: Blonde
Eye color: Blue-green
Measurements: 86.5-61-89 (EU); 34-24-35 (US)

Weight: 55 kg (121 lbs)
Dress size: 36–38 (EU); 6 (US)
Manager: DNA Model Management Models 1 Agency

Linda Evangelista (born May 10, 1965) is a Canadian model. She has been featured on over 600 magazine covers. Evangelista is mostly known for being the longtime muse of photographer Steven Meisel, as well as coining the phrase "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day". She holds the record for her multiple appearances on the cover of Vogue Italia, all of which were photographed by Meisel.

Early years

Evangelista was born to Italian parents who emigrated to Canada and was raised in a working-class, traditional Roman Catholic family in St. Catharines, Ontario, near Niagara Falls, where she attended Denis Morris Catholic High School. Her father worked for General Motors and her mother, Marisa, was a bookkeeper. Evangelista began modelling when she was discovered by an agent from Elite Model Management at the 1978 Miss Teen Niagara beauty pageant.

Career

Evangelista later moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. She then moved to Paris to further her career. She worked extensively with fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh, who encouraged her to consider a short hair cut. Top hairdresser Julien Dy's cut her hair into what she described as "a bowl cut with sideburns". She cried during the haircut but it turned out to be the defining moment of her career.[citation needed]

Evangelista once said, "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day", (often misquoted as: "We don't get out of bed for less than..." or "I don't get out of bed for less than...") Spoken in Vogue (1990) to Jonathan van Meter.

In 2007, she signed a multiple-year exclusive contract with the cosmetics company L'Oreal Paris. It was announced in early 2008 that she would be featured in the Prada Fall 2008 campaign seen in magazines internationally.

She is signed to DNA Model Management in New York City, and Models 1 in London.

In June 2010, the New York Post reported that Evangelista will be the new face of Talbots.

Personal life

At the age of 22, Evangelista married Elite executive Gerald Marie. They were married from 1987 to 1993.

In 1999, she became pregnant by French football player Fabien Barthez. At 6 months pregnant, she delivered a stillborn baby. The couple then broke up and Evangelista left modelling for several years to recuperate.

On October 11, 2006, Evangelista gave birth to a boy, Augustin James, refusing to name his biological father, sparking rumours. While pregnant, she appeared on the August 2006 issue of Vogue. In late June 2011, Evangelista filed court papers that revealed her son was fathered by billionaire Frenchman François-Henri Pinault, by then the husband of actress Salma Hayek. After several court appearances aimed at establishing a child support agreement, on August 1, 2011, Evangelista formally filed for a child support order in Manhattan Family Court, seeking $46,000 in monthly child support from Pinault. It was reported that if granted, this amount "would probably be the largest support order in the history of the family court." A heavily-publicized child support trial began on May 3, 2012, and included testimony from both Pinault and Evangelista, with Evangelista's attorney claiming that Pinault had never supported the child. Several days into the trial, on May 7, 2012, Evangelista and Pinault reached an out-of-court settlement.

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Cisalpine American History

Cisalpine American History

Taken from the History Channel documentary 'Italians in America' (1998). Narrated by Joseph Campanella. Sorry about the poor quality.


Names mentioned:

Christopher Columbus (Ligurian)
John Cabot (Ligurian)
Amerigo Vespucci (Tuscan)
Philip Mazzei (Tuscan)
Leonardo da Vinci (Tuscan)
Antonio Vivaldi (Venetian)
Galileo Galilei (Tuscan)
Constantino Brumidi (Roman/Greek)
A. P. Giannini (Ligurian)

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Ernest Borgnine: Padan descendant

[Above: Ernest Borgnine is honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award on January 30, 2011]

Borgnine, who is Piedmontese and Emilian descent, has a long biography that we won't post here (see the below link). It's remarkable that he won an Academy Award for best actor in 1955 (for his portrayal of Marty Piletti in the film Marty), and he is still so active today at age 94 (four movies in 2010). It's just by chance that we became aware of his Padan ancestry. Please send any information regarding other famous Cisalpine-descended people in the world.

Ernest Borgnine (from his Wikipedia page):

Ernest Borgnine (born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917) is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962-66 series McHale's Navy and costarred in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf in adition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine earned an Emmy nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER.

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