The story of a dreamer…Envisioning a socio-economic utopia, A. P. Giannini was not a typical banking tycoon. With a socially enlightened heart, he made the American dream a reality, not just for himself, but for society as a whole. In spite of devastating personal obstacles, such as the death of his father, Giannini became the world’s leading banker of the twentieth century. Raised by hardworking peasant immigrants in what was considered a backwater area of California, Giannini received his economic education in an unconventional way, paving the way for his rise to prosperity. •Founding the Bank of Italy for poor immigrant families, he wanted to overcome the barriers put in place by the conservative current banking elite to fulfill the dreams of “little guys.” •The Bank of Italy became the Bank of America and the poor Italian was now in a position to help dreamers such as Walt Disney achieve their own dreams. •Giannini also shaped the San Francisco skyline by financing the bold Golden Gate Bridge. His influences and hard work can be seen all over the country, simply because he believed in “a more general distribution of wealth and happiness.”

A.P. Giannini: The People's Banker

Biographies & Memoirs

Valente, Francesca

Community & Culture

Barbera Foundation, Inc.

Born with an inquisitive imagination… Brilliant inventor, electrical engineer, and wise entrepreneur, Guglielmo Marconi was best known for inventing long-distance radio transmissions and the telegraph system. But his success wasn’t solely a product of his curious mind. Marconi attributed his prosperity to the people in his life who encouraged him to achieve his goals. Fostering his relationships with his mother, his wives, and other female friends allowed Marconi to grow and explore as an inventor without the fear of isolation, political disassociation, and covert racism hindering his dreams. Although he spent most of his time spanning the globe and using the entire planet as his creative palette, the people he chose to associate himself with were critical to his well-being, his inventive nature, and his general physical and mental health. Without his close-knit relationships, long-distance transmission may have never come to fruition.

Marconi and His Muses: A Novel Based on the Life of Guglielmo Marconi

Literature & Fiction

Winfrey, Pamela

Genre Fiction

La storia di un sognatore…Amadeo Pietro Giannini, con la sua capacità di immaginare un’utopia socio-economica, non è stato un tipico magnate della finanza. Grazie a una coscienza illuminata, attenta alle questioni sociali, ha saputo trasformare in realtà il sogno americano non solo per se stesso, ma per l’intera società. Nonostante drammatici ostacoli di ordine personale – non ultima la morte del padre – Giannini divenne, su scala mondiale, il banchiere guida del ventesimo secolo. Cresciuto in una famiglia di contadini, grandi lavoratori, immigrati in un’area particolarmente arretrata della California, Giannini ricevette un’educazione economica tutt’altro che convenzionale, spianandosi così la strada verso il successo e la ricchezza.Con la fondazione della Bank of Italy, particolarmente attenta alle famiglie bisognose degli immigrati, Giannini intendeva superare le barriere create a quel tempo dall’élite bancaria conservatrice, per realizzare i sogni della gente comune. Ben presto, la Bank of Italy sarebbe divenuta la Bank of America e il “povero italiano” si sarebbe trovato in condizione di sostenere la realizzazione dei sogni di visionari del calibro di Walt Disney. Giannini contribuì inoltre a dar forma allo skyline di San Francisco, finanziando l’audace costruzione del Golden Gate Bridge. Questo e molti altri frutti della sua influenza e del suo duro lavoro sono ancora oggi visibili in tutti gli Stati Uniti, per il semplice fatto che egli credeva “in una distribuzione più equa del benessere e della felicità”.

A.P. Giannini: Il Banchiere di Tutti (Italian Edition)

Women marched for equal pay, the President of the United States advocated an anti-immigration policy, and the income gap between the rich and poor continued to grow. And it was just the beginning of the 20th century.As a girl growing up in Italian Harlem, Angela Bambace needed answers. How could it be acceptable for women not to earn equal pay for equal work? Why were immigrants relegated to the factory jobs no one else would take and working under such dangerous and inhumane conditions? And why were the businessmen at the top getting richer and richer while the poor who worked for them struggled to provide for their own families? How could any of this be okay?But perhaps Angela’s most consequential question was If not me, then who?Born to a father and married to a man who both believed a woman’s place was in the home, Angela Bambace defied her family and social expectations to lead a labor union—organizing women’s marches, strikes, and protests “to build a better world, a better place for everybody.” Today, Angela’s story might be more significant than ever as others continue her fight and call to action.

Little by Little We Won: A Novel Based on the Life of Angela Bambace

Lamphier PhD, Peg A.

Luca Pacioli stood beside the great Leonardo da Vinci and gazed at The Last Supper. He saw immediately that something was terribly wrong.An orphan from a small town in Italy, Pacioli came of age during the Renaissance seemingly destined for a life of struggle and obscurity. But Pacioli had the good fortune of meeting mentors who recognized his uncanny ability with numbers and introduced him to renowned artists and philosophers, royalty, and popes.At a time when many still used Roman numerals and colleges didn't even teach mathematics, Pacioli was determined to share his passion and make it accessible and understandable. Apprentice to an artist, but a terrible artist himself, he became a master at calculating mathematical perspective in paintings. Tasked with teaching mathematics with no textbook, he wrote his own--followed by books on double-entry bookkeeping, chess, and the divine proportionIn this way, Luca Pacioli, "the father of accounting," still has something to teach us--not just about mathematics--but about how we account for setbacks in our lives and how we determine what our legacy will be.

The Divine Proportions of Luca Pacioli: A Novel Based on the Life of Luca Pacioli

Parker, W.A.W.