Honoring Filippo Mazzei, Italian Revolutionary War Patriot

Mary Tedesco, National Chair, Insignia Committee

November 10, 2023

Thursday featured the centerpiece of our overseas trip: an extraordinary opportunity to honor the life and legacy of Filippo Mazzei. My great privilege was to lay a wreath honoring a man who inspired Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers who supported our fight for independence. I am grateful to the members of the local and federal government that made today’s memorable event possible, as well as Massimo Balzi, president of the Filippo Mazzei Cultural Club. We rejoiced in the ties of Italian-American friendship as we celebrated this Patriot at a luncheon in the breathtaking Villa di Corliano, headquarters of the cultural club.

–Pamela Wright, President General

Today was the highlight of our DAR Tour to Italy: an opportunity to honor the memory and legacy of Filippo Mazzei, a friend of Thomas Jefferson and to American Independence. Mazzei was a physician, vintner and arms dealer who provided aid and support for the American Revolution.

Our group of DAR members and guests journeyed via express train and motor coach from Rome to Pisa to acknowledge the 250th anniversary of Filippo Mazzei’s first trip to Virginia, where he established his reputation as an American Patriot and godfather of the Declaration of Independence. In a moving ceremony, our President General and Carlo Maruzzi, descendant of Filippo Mazzei, laid a wreath at Filippo Mazzei’s final resting place in the Church of San Gregorio in Pisa’s Cimitero Suburbano.

At the ceremony, we were honored to be joined by many Italian dignitaries, including: Cristina Manetti, Head of the Cabinet, Tuscany Region; Serena Nannotti, Regional Councilor for Tuscany; Francesca Parigi Bini, Institutional Communications Official for Tuscany; Paolo Pesciatini, Councilor for Commerce and Tourism, Pisa; Sergio de Maio, Mayor of San Giuliano Terme; Michele Conti, Mayor of Pisa; Sergio di Maio, Mayor of San Giuliano Terme; Jaleh Bahrabadi, Director of Pisa State Archives; Massimo Balzi, President of the Filippo Mazzei Cultural Club; Teresa Sichetti, Vice President of the Filippo Mazzei Cultural Club and Maurizio Mancianti, President of the Tuscan American Association.

Following the wreath-laying, we enjoyed a delicious three-course Tuscan luncheon at Villa di Corliano, the headquarters of the Filippo Mazzei Cultural Club (Circolo Culturale Filippo Mazzei). The Club’s work involves preserving and perpetuating the legacy of Patriot Filippo Mazzei so that he will continue to be honored and remembered for many generations to come. During the luncheon, the Filippo Mazzei Cultural Club was awarded a DAR America 250! Commendation by Kathryn Walker West, National Chair of the America 250! Committee, for its extraordinary efforts to honor and educate others about the life and Revolutionary War service of Filippo Mazzei. The President General presented America 250! Commemorative Bowls to Massimo Balzi, President of the Filippo Mazzei Cultural Club, and Carlo Maruzzi, descendant of Filippo Mazzei.