Photo Gallery

Delegates from the province of Asti. Kathleen Maggiora Rogers (our President) is located at the far right, front row. (Enlarge)	Delegates from the province of Torino. Claudia Biorcio-Milani (our Vice President) is located in the front row (left side) next to the boy. (Enlarge)
From right to left: Michele Colombino (Presidente dell' Associazione Piemontesi nel Mondo), Mariangela Cotto (Assessore all' Emigrazione), Enzo Ghigo (Presidente della Regione Piemonte) and center with green tie is Roberto Cota(Presidente del Consiglio) (Enlarge)

Piemontesi di Tutto il Mondo

On October 10-11, 2003, the Regione Piemonte sponsored La Seconda Conferenza Regionale dei Piemontesi nel Mondo in Novara. Over 100 delegates from the more than 200 Piemontesi nel Mondo chapters throughout the world convened in the beautiful Teatro Coccia. These chapters represent more than 6 million Piemontesi living abroad. Delegates to the Conferenza came from France, England, Russia, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Canada, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, South Africa, Australia, Zambia, New Zealand, and, of course, the United States. The Northern California chapter was represented by our President, Kathleen Maggiora Rogers, and our Vice President, Claudia Biorcio-Milani.

The Conferenza was a tribute to the Piemontesi nel Mondo of the past and of the present. The strong message delivered to the delegates was to nurture and maintain Piemontesita': to educate the descendants of Piemontese immigrants, especially the new generation, about our history, traditions, culture, language, and values.

The two-day Conferenza began with welcome speeches given by Roberto Cota (Presidente del Consiglio Regionale del Piemonte), Enzo Ghigo (Presidente della Regione Piemonte), Michele Colombino (Presidente dell'Associazione Piemontesi nel Mondo), and others. The afternoon was dedicated to round table discussions on the following topics: "Informazione: Una Rete per gli Italiani nel Mondo," "Donne ed Emigrazione: Tradizioni e Valori," and "Le Nuove Mobilita'." During one of the discussions, it was noted that within the last few years there has been a steady development of a local network of information within the Italian communities throughout the world published in Italian, in the regional language or both. Our own Boletin is a perfect example of this!

Day two began with summary reports of the round table discussions. Then five prestigious awards were presented to those individuals living abroad whose activities illustrate and define the values and traditions of Piemonte in the social, scientific, artistic, or literary fields. The recipients were Cardinal Mario Bergoglio (Argentina), Umberto Lillaz (Venezuela), Felice Frascarolo (Chile), Eldorado Pollastri (Brazil) and Lidia Sartoris de Angeli (Argentina). The Conferenza concluded with a nostalgic concert of Piemontese songs sung by Gipo Farassino.