An Out of Town Consular Mission

(May 13, 2011)

As part of the project “Consulate fuori porta”, on May 10, a consular mission led by Consul General of Italy in New York Francesco M. Talò went to Connecticut for a series of meetings organized in collaboration with honorary Vice-consul Dott.ssa Ambra Fantino

A mission "fuori porta" (out of town) for the General Consulate of New York. May 1 was an intense and important day for the Italian community outside Manhattan. Consul General Francesco M. Talò and his delegation visited Hartford [2], Connecticut [3]. According to the latest census, Connecticut is the state with the highest number of people of Italian origin.

The Consul General was first received at the Hartford Capitol by Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy [4]. The two exchanged opinions on the strengthening of relations between Italy and Connecticut.

During the meetings of the day, the theme most discussed was the promotion of the Italian language, especially by making use of the AP exams and their promotion. All the speakers agreed that this topic is of interest for all the younger generations.

During the day, the Consul General also met with representatives of the various Italian-American associations in Connecticut. Another topic was the 150th anniversary of the Italian Unification.

During the meeting, functionaries of the Consulate General collected digital finger prints, mandatory for the new biometric passports, in order to help those Italians who live far from Manhattan.

The event was gratefully welcomed by the local Italian community. Many Italian citizens of the area showed up at Trinity College's Smith House [5].

The mission was part of the “Consulate outside the walls” project, and was the second after the Rochester outing in October, attempts to bring the consular services closer to those residents far from New York.

During the year the Consulate General intends to do this in other distant areas and will announce the dates ahead of time on their website. Before returning to New York, the Consul General, aided by Deputy Consul Lucia Pasqualini, stopped briefly at Yale University [6] to meet the Italian scholars and students. It was an important opportunity to examine the prospectives towards a strengthening of the relationship between our ever-growing presence in one of the most prestigious universities of the world and the Italian system in New York.