Pompeo D'Ambrosio
Encyclopedia
San Marco Evangelista
San Marco Evangelista is a comune in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km northeast of Naples and about 4 km south of Caserta...
(near Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) on January 1, 1917 and died in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
(Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
) on April 15, 1998.
He was very renowned in the Italian community in Caracas and was very active - with his financial activity in one of the main Venezuelan banks ("Banco Latino
Banco Latino
Banco Latino was a Venezuelan bank based in Caracas, and at the time of its 1994 failure was the country's second largest. It had a good relationship with the government, such that ministries moved their accounts to the bank, and the army and the state-owned oil company PDVSA entrusted their...
") - for the promotion of many successful Italian entrepreneurs in Venezuela.
He was even a financial manager for Deportivo Italia
Deportivo Italia
Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C.", the club after fifty years merged with "Deportivo Chacao F.C." in 1998, and was called Deportivo Italchacao for eight years...
, the soccer club of the Italian community in Venezuela, during the "golden" years (in the sixties and seventies). Those years, when he ruled the team with his brother Mino, are remembered as the D'Ambrosio Era.
Life
Pompeo D'Ambrosio lived his first years in CampagnaCampagna
Campagna is a small town and comune of the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Southern Italy.-History:The town, located in a mountainous district, gradually lost importance in the 20th century...
, a little town in the Province of Salerno
Province of Salerno
The Province of Salerno is a province in the Campania region of Italy.-Geography:The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 139,579; Cava de' Tirreni with a population of 53,488; Battipaglia with a population of 51,115; and Nocera Inferiore which has a...
, where his uncle was the Municipal Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
who distinguished himself helping the Jews during the nazi persecutions .
In the late 1930s Pompeo D'Ambrosio studied "Administration of Italian Colonies" at the University of Naples.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was a Lieutenant in the Italian Army
Italian Army
The Italian Army is the ground defence force of the Italian Armed Forces. It is all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel, numbering 108,355 in 2010. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft...
in North Africa (Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
), where he was wounded and taken as a POW during the Battle of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
receiving a military Medal of Honor.
When he returned to Italy from an Allied Prisoner of War Camp in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, in 1946 co-founded in Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
the local section of the Movimento Sociale Italiano, a national-conservative Italian Party actually named Alleanza Nazionale.
Influence in the Italian community of Venezuela
In 1951 Pompeo D'Ambrosio moved to Venezuela, where started to work as Director of the "Banco Francés e Italiano" (called later "Banco Latino"), financing the Italian community of CaracasCaracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Maracaibo
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...
and Puerto La Cruz
Puerto la Cruz
Puerto la Cruz is a port city located in Anzoátegui State, in Venezuela. It is the seat of the Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality. The city has road connections to the state capital, Barcelona, to Lecheria and to Guanta, and has the potential to become the largest and most important metropolitan...
.
Many companies of Italian-Venezuelans, like "Vinccler" and "Constructora Delpre" (that made the skyscrapers of the Parque Central Complex
Parque Central Complex
The Parque Central Complex is a housing, commercial and cultural development, implemented by Centro Simón Bolívar and located in the urbanization of the county in the center of the city of Caracas, Venezuela adjacent to Paseo Vargas....
, actually the tallest of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
), received his experienced advice and financial help in order to grow at the first levels of the Venezuelan economy.
He was even co-founder of the "Casa de Italia" and the "Centro Italo-Venezolano" of Caracas, and participated in many other associations for the health and social assistance of the Italians with low level income. He even promoted the diffusion of the Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
in Venezuela.
Santander Laya-Garrido cites him, in his book "Los Italianos forjadores de la nacionalidad y del desarrollo económico en Venezuela" (The Italians creators of the nationality and the economic development of Venezuela), as an example of honesty and dedication to the community.
His honesty made him to fight the growing but corrupted power of Pedro Tinoco
Pedro Tinoco
Pedro Tinoco was Venezuela's Minister of Finance from 1969 to 1972, under President Rafael Caldera. He was then Chairman of the Board of Banco Latino from 1975, and one of Carlos Andrés Pérez's "Twelve Apostles"....
(and his group called "Twelve Apostles
Twelve Apostles (Venezuela)
The "Twelve Apostles" were a group of Venezuelan businessmen close to President Carlos Andrés Pérez. The term was coined by Duno and became part of the Venezuelan political language. The group included Diego Arria and Pedro Tinoco and Carmelo Lauria...
") when became President of the Banco Central de Venezuela. But in the eighties D'Ambrosio was forced to resign by Tinoco from the Banco Latino, a bank that was - soon after his resignation - involved in the biggest financial crisis of Venezuela.
When the Banco Latino went bankrupt in 1994, Pompeo D'Ambrosio received an outstanding applause (appeared on all the Venezuelan media) from the "Association of Employees of the Latino Bank", during a conference denouncing the corruption of Tinoco and his group (Siro Febres Cordero, etc..).
Furthermore, Pompeo D'Ambrosio is mainly remembered by the Italian community
Italo-Venezuelans
Italian-Venezuelans are the Venezuelan citizens of Italian descent. The word may refer to someone born in Venezuela of Italian descent or to someone who has emigrated to Venezuela from Italy...
of Venezuela because of his D'Ambrosio Era, when ruled with his brother Mino the Deportivo Italia
Deportivo Italia
Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C.", the club after fifty years merged with "Deportivo Chacao F.C." in 1998, and was called Deportivo Italchacao for eight years...
(from 1958 to 1978, when the soccer started to be important in Venezuela).
The D'Ambrosio Era of the Deportivo Italia
In 1958 Mino D'Ambrosio took control of the Deportivo ItaliaDeportivo Italia
Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C.", the club after fifty years merged with "Deportivo Chacao F.C." in 1998, and was called Deportivo Italchacao for eight years...
and with his brother Pompeo D'Ambrosio (who financially controlled the team) made the soccer team of the Italian community reach the top level in the Venezuelan football.
The D'Ambrosio Era of the team lasted twenty years until 1978 and was characterized by four Champeonships of the Primera División Venezolana
Primera División Venezolana
The Primera División , or Liga Venezolana is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957...
and the famous "Maracanazo" of 1971 (when the Deportivo Italia won in the Stadium Maracana
Maracanã
Maracanã may refer to:* The Red-shouldered Macaw, a bird known in Brazil as Maracanã* Maracanã , a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil* Maracanã , a stadium located in Maracanã neighborhood...
of Rio de Janeiro the Fluminense, Champion of Brasil). The team obtained even three times the Copa de Venezuela
Copa de Venezuela
The Copa Venezuela is the national cup football competition of Venezuela. Organized by the Venezuelan Football Federation, is it disputed in the first half of the season by the teams in the Primera División, Segunda División A, and Segunda División B....
: in 1961, 1962 and 1970 (and was Runner-up in 1976). Furthermore, the team participated six times to the South American Copa Libertadores: in 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1972.
The sixties were the "golden" years of the Deportivo Italia, because they were Venezuelan Champions in 1961, 1963 and 1966. The fourth title for the team was obtained in 1972 (and was Runner-up in 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971).
Indeed, between 1961 and 1972, every year the Deportivo Italia of Pompeo and Mino D'Ambrosio obtained a first or second place in the Venezuelan Championships (and/or a good performance in the South American Copa Libertadores).
Additionally - in those golden years of the D'Ambrosio Era - the Deportivo Italia won in international tournaments some renowned European teams (like the Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1968) and was the first Venezuelan team - in all the history of the Venezuelan soccer - to reach the second round of the Copa Libertadores (in 1964).