Carlo Barsotti

Italian-American newspaper and bank owner

Carlo Barsotti

Born	1850 Pisa, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died	1927 New Jersey, United States
Occupation(s)	Newspaper and bank owner

Carlo Barsotti was an Italian-American newspaper and bank owner. He was born in Pisa, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in 1850 and died in New Jersey, United States, in 1927.

Biography

Barsotti emigrated from Italy to New York City in 1872. In 1879, he founded the Il Progresso Italo-Americano newspaper in New York City with Vincenzo Polidori, which soon became the city's largest-circulation foreign-language newspaper.^[1]

In 1882 he opened the Italian American Bank, with Carlo Pavia as his general manager.

King Umberto I of Italy rewarded him the distinction of the title Cavaliere in 1888. With numerous awards from the country of Venezuela and the Italian Red Cross, he was a very notable Italian figure in late 19th century America.^[2]

Barsotti used his newspaper as a tool to raise funds for monuments to great Italian figures, which were disseminated all over New York City's parks. Examples of his funding efforts are Washington Square (Giuseppe Garibaldi), Battery Park (Giovanni Da Verrazzano), Verdi Square (Giuseppe Verdi) and Columbus Circle (Christopher Columbus).

References

^ "Giovanni da Verrazano Memorial -- Battery Park, New York City, New York at Museum Planet: Slide tours of historic places with narration, photographs and text". Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
^ Brigham, Gertrude R. "The New Memorial to Dante in Washington", Art & Archeology, Archaeological Institute of America, Vol. 13, 1922, pp. 32-35.

External links

"That Statue of Dante in the Heart of Manhattan", by Tiziano Thomas Dossena, Bridgepugliausa.it, 2011
“But for Columbus there would be no America”, by Tiziano Thomas Dossena, Bridgepugliausa.it, 2011