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NIAF Leadership Commemorates Memory of Judge Giovanni Falcone and Francesca Morvillo in Palermo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elissa Ruffino, 202-939-3106, elissa@niaf.org

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(WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 20, 2015)  National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) President John M. Viola will lead a delegation of the Foundation’s Board members to Palermo, Italy, to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the massacres of Capaci and Via D’Amelio on May 23, 2015.

The deaths of Judge Giovanni Falcone and his wife, Judge Francesca Morvillo, Judge Paolo Borsellino, and their associates will be remembered at “Palermo chiama Italia” (Palermo calls Italy), a special event organized by the Fondazione Giovanni e Francesca Falcone in collaboration with the General Directorate for students of the Ministry of Education.  More than 40,000 students from across Italy and hundreds from Europe and the United States will meet to commemorate them.

“NIAF is honored to participate in this solemn event.  Judges Falcone, Morvillo and Borsellino gave their lives fighting an evil that effects Italy and United States as well; an evil that is a stain on the reputation of Italian and Italian Americans alike,”  said NIAF President John M. Viola .

NIAF’s leadership, including Dr. John P. Rosa, co-chair of the Foundation’s education and grants committee, and Charles Turano, NIAF board member, executive vice president of the National Hockey League franchise Florida Panthers and director of Heritage Werks, will join Italy’s Minister of Education, University and Research Stefania Giannini.  The Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research (MIUR) is a sponsor of the event.  Also in attendance will be Maria Falcone, Giovanni Falcone’s sister, Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella, and Italy’s Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando at the commemoration ceremony.

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is a non-profit organization with its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to preserving and promoting the heritage of Italian Americans. Visit www.niaf.org.