GUGLIELMO MARCONI

Everything begins in the silence of the Bolognese hills, at Villa Griffone. It is here that a young Guglielmo Marconi forever transforms the history of humanity. With a flash of intuition, he succeeds in transmitting the first wireless telegraph signal beyond the Celestini hill. The air suddenly becomes the means to overcome every obstacle: modern communications are born. A revolutionary discovery that will earn him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 and forever establish him as the man capable of shortening the distances of the world. The echo of that signal crosses the ocean and resonates powerfully in New York, where America decides to celebrate the father of radio. During the memorable 1939 World's Fair, Marconi's genius takes tangible form in a solemn bronze bust. Sculpting the scientist's features is Pietro Montana, an Italian-American artist. Arriving in Brooklyn from Sicily at a very young age and pursuing his education through enormous sacrifices, balancing factory work with evening art schools, Montana manages to infuse that metal with all the pride and dignity of Italian ingenuity. Today, that same energy continues to vibrate in the beating heart of Manhattan. The inventor's name towers over the façade of La Scuola d'Italia Guglielmo Marconi. An Italian-English bilingual school in North America, from early childhood through twelfth grade, authorized by the Italian government. Guiding this bridge between two worlds is Italian-American principal Anthony Martire. Anthony has dedicated his life to Italian studies, and today he passes on that same passion to students from more than twenty-five different nationalities. From the air crossed by the first radio waves in Emilia to the cosmopolitan classrooms of New York: Marconi's signal has never stopped, forever uniting the two shores of the ocean.