An Art Benefactor: Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda

A winning combination of American know-how and Italian charm is the secret of Countess Simonetta Brandolini D’Adda’s success as founder and head of Friends of Florence. Born in Georgia to an American father and a Roman mother, the bilingual Simonetta spent most of her childhood and young adulthood moving back and forth between the U.S. and Italy. Five years spent in France as a young child add to her international background. She was [...]

American Horizons in Italy: Introducing Abigail Rupp

American Horizons in Italy: Introducing Abigail Rupp

A Vista reporter sat down with the new U.S. Consul General in Florence, Abigail Rupp, to get her take on Women In the Know.  Rupp works in coordination with the American Embassy in Rome to serve the U.S. and her citizens in Tuscany, most of Emilia Romagna and San Marino. Before arriving in July 2014, Rupp worked in Moldova, Ghana, Russia, Ethiopia and Washington D.C.  The daughter of two U.S. government employees and [...]

WW2 In Florence, An American War Hero & Marco Tofani

Marco Tofani, Florence

As a teenager, Marco Tofani walked past rows upon rows of 4,402 graves, each honoring a fallen World War II soldier at Florence American Cemetery. It was a Sunday in September 1962 when he and his parents first visited the historic site. The number of pristine white crosses and Judaic stars profoundly affected Tofani, with the American flag waving high above the trees. He gravitated toward one cross in particular, marking the final [...]

Julia Race: The British Institute’s New Director

  A few days before the death of Nelson Mandela, who will be forever remembered for his successful nonviolent battle against apartheid, the new director of the British Institute, Julia Race, granted an exclusive interview to Vista. Race began to speak of her experience in South Africa, where she served as director of the British Council between 1998 and 2000. “It was extraordinary to be there as Nelson Mandela stepped down from the [...]