Christopher Columbus-His Life and Discoveries is the fruit of a lifelong love and admiration for the legendary feats of the great Genoese navigator. Dr. Di Giovanni, a researcher, a humanist and a man of faith, always felt a special affinity to Columbus, a man of the Renaissance, who sought, with his discoveries, to expand the boundaries of knowledge and Christianity. Mario was born December 20, 1911 in a small town near the city of Avellino, some 30 miles east of Naples. In 1921, at age 10, he migrated with his family to the United States, settled in New Jersey, and attended Barringer High School in Newark, excelling in academics as well as track and field. He attended New York University graduating with a B.A. in Mechanical Engineering and later earned a Doctorate in Science. (In 1980, as an alumnus of NYU, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of science for the class of 1935.) The first years of his professional life were spent in teaching, a vocation to which Dr. Di Giovanni always felt drawn. In 1969, after retiring from his scientific research, he resumed teaching with courses at Loyola-Marymount and Pepperdine Universities. In 1938, he married his sweetheart Mary Cordasco, also a New Jerseyan. Their union was a model of total and lasting love which was blessed by the birth of a son, Martin, and a daughter, Ann Marie Calabro. Dr. Di Giovanni's intense and productive career in scientific research began during World War II when he taught Helicopter Design at a New York trade school. In 1952 he accepted a position with Statham Instruments in California where he worked on research and development in the aeronautical field, particularly with pressure transducers for instrumentation. Later, and with more personal satisfaction, he did biomedical research for application to the human heart, contributing effectively to the development of the first artificial heart. In all, he filed and obtained over 30 patents. Dr. Di Giovanni was a man of considerable public involvement, taking an active part in humanitarian, cultural and social activities. With Angelo Lupo and Santino Vasquez, he was instrumental in bringing to the west coast UNICO National, the largest Italian-American service club to the United States. In 1962, he became national president; the first from a western state. Proud of his Catholic faith, for many years he was a lector at his local parish in Pacific Palisades. In the 1970's, he was among the first to join Father Luigi Donanzan in the campaign to erect Casa Italiana Cultural Center and Villa Scalabrini Retirement Center. In 1979, he became the first elected president of the Villa Scalabrini Council. He was also active within the Federated Italo-Americans of Southern California, the confederation of all Italian organizations in Los Angeles, becoming its president in 1981. In 1982 he received the Federated Man of the Year Award. Other public recognitions include the UNICO Vastola Award in 1972 and the Commander Award from the Republic of Italy in 1982. In January 1980, while conducting a meeting of the Villa Scalabrini Council, he suffered his first heart attack. It was after such a shocking event, forced as he was to further reduce his work, that Dr. Mario Di Giovanni began, in earnest, to write his book on Columbus. He methodically organized the material he had been collecting throughout the years. It was as if he sensed that he had very little time left. Thus this book is truly a work of love and sacrifice. But for the sad event of January 1980 and his decision to hurry on with his elected task, the world might not have known that Dr. Mario Di Giovanni was an expert on Columbus, as the Book of Buffs, World Almanac lists him. Dr. Di Giovanni died on July 21, 1986, his last task not quite complete. Christopher Columbus-His Life and Discoveries first saw the light of day in 1991, thanks to the initiative of Columbus Explorers, Inc.
