Italy’s Most Beautiful Actress Ever: Silvana Mangano

Italy’s Most Beautiful Actress Ever: Silvana Mangano There is no argument. No woman ever appeared as beautiful on screen as Silvana Mangano. We may argue about who was the best Italian actress in terms of quality acting. An excellent actress in her own right, Mangano still faces stiff competition against the likes of Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren and Monica Vitti. Italy was and remains blessed with an aggregate of fine actresses. But for sheer beauty…no one compares to Mangano.

In Every Issue

Publisher's Note Letters to the Editor Travel / Hidden Treasures Italian Language Lesson Genealogy / My Italian Family Reader's Corner Book Reviews The Truth about Wine Italian Clubs Directory Classifieds Section Subscription Form Advertisers' Index List of Back Issues

Features

The November/December 2009 edition includes: PRIMO’s Tribute to Italian American Coal and Other Miners: A Montage of Photographs and Vignettes Cherry Mine Disaster: Italian Americans Were Both Victims and Heroes of One of America’s Worst Workplace Catastrophes AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Proud of His Italian and Coal Mining Roots Man of Mystery: Leonardo da Vinci – What Made Him a Great Artist, His Futuristic Fortress Concept and Works Newly Credited to Him Rome’s Classic Pasta Dishes and The City’s Best Trattorie That Serve Amatriciana, Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara and Gricia Italy’s Finest Pen Maker: Montegrappa Pens Italy’s Screen Gem: Silvana Mangano The Latest Books by, for and about Italian Americans Cornaro Missal: One of the Last Handwritten Manuscripts Depicting the Nativity Our Tribute to Italian American Coal Miners: Old photographs and recollections make up a wonderful montage of our parents and grandparents who delved into the bowels of the earth to retrieve the raw materials that built this great nation. We honor and love them for it. Cherry Mine Disaster: Lured by the promise of a secure future for their families, Italians from the region of Emilia-Romagna left their impoverished mountain communities for a life toiling underground in Cherry, Illinois…they would become statistics in the worst coal mine fire in American history.   A Miner for Labor, Richard Trumka: In an exclusive interview with PRIMO, the first president of the AFL-CIO to be an Italian American looks back at the teachings of his Italian immigrant grandfather and considers his work in the mines and what he sees as the future of organized labor.   Leonardo da Vinci, a Man of Mystery: His mastery of form, composition, human expressions, anatomical correctness, and subtle nuances of shading and delicate translucent layers of colors continues to make his work miraculously stunning to the beholder. His restless mind delved into anatomy, botany, architecture, sculpture, theatrical design and mechanical stage apparatus.     Works Newly Credited to Leonardo: Experts are increasingly discovering sculptures and paintings created by Leonardo da Vinci that were once thought created by other Renaissance artists and sculptors. Roma Pasta: The word pasta usually brings a smile to the face of any gastronomic connoisseur. And if this culinary password is combined with either Italy or Rome, well, then the smile will probably be twice as wide. Because the Italians, as we know, are veri maestri, true masters, in turning all kinds of pasta into succulent dishes. Pen Maker: Italy hosts a number of pen manufacturers, some of whom produce the finest pens in the world. Montegrappa is one of them.      Italy’s Screen Gem, Silvana Mangano: Hers was a face and body that allured men and inspired women. Her high check bones, her soft chin, a Roman nose that rounded nicely, penetrating eyes that were pools of paradox: exotic and continental, fiery and subdued. Cornaro Missal: The large leather bound book contains the liturgy, prayers and psalms of a year’s worth of Sunday and holiday Masses. All done by hand: One person wrote the text while another sketched and painted the illustrations. Who they were is unknown.

Departments

Publisher’s Note: The Wisdom of a Tuscan, Author Ferenc Máté Travel: Hidden Treasures – Matera, Jewel of Southern Italy My Italian Family/Genealogy: Family Garibaldi Letters to the Editor Readers’ Corner: “Return to Sesto Campano,” by Ellen Autenzio Readers' Corner: “My Bellosguardo,” by Barbara Marie Florio Language: Excerpts in Italian of Pierdomenico Baccalaria’s “Ring of Fire.” The Truth about Wine: Orange Colored Italian Wines Reviews: “The Table My Mother Set,” “Who Has Nana’s Recipe?” “The Winds of Time,” “Sparrow’s Revenge,” “Born to Create,” “Never Trust a Thin Cook,” “The Journey of Italians in America”

Special Announcements:

Call to Readers: We plan to feature a special issue titled “Surviving the Recession.” We want to pay tribute to Italian American owned businesses toughing it out during this recession. No TARP funds, no bailouts, no government help for them…just old fashioned hard work and dedication. We want to hear from you. Tell us about your business, the products you make or the services you provide; how long have you owned your business, tell us if it is family run and tell us the family members who work with you, what led you to start your business, why you like it and include your opinions on today’s economy. Please be sure to send us a photograph of you at your desk, workbench or counter, alone or with your employees. Be sure to tell us where your family came from in Italy. No more than 200 words. Please send your write-up and photograph(s) to PRIMO Editor, 2125 Observatory Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007, editor@flprimo.com. Buy PRIMO Coffee Mugs Enjoy your morning coffee with a PRIMO coffee mug. Just $7.95; the price includes shipping and handling. Buy PRIMO Earrings Italian pride never looked so beautiful. Our earrings are handmade, right here in the USA, from the finest material: Sterling silver, beads of jade, carnelian and agate - in the colors of the Italian flag – red, white and green! Buy them today! Just $7.95; the price includes shipping and handling. Now Available: PRIMO Umbrella Rainy days are brighter when you walk under our PRIMO umbrella. Keep dry while showing the world you are proud to be an Italian American. The PRIMO umbrella tells people you are! Just $10.95; the price includes shipping and handling. Order your PRIMO merchandise today by calling PRIMO toll free at 866-67-PRIMO (77466).