Leopold Saverio Vaccaro was a noted Italian-born American surgeon and scientist who was decorated for assisting with the reconstruction of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw far-reaching and wide-ranging cultural, economic, and social change across Europe, Asia, Africa, and in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were a ...

Biographical Information

Born February 2, 1887, in

Rionero in Vulture Rionero in Vulture () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is located on the slopes of Monte Vulture in the northern part of the region. The village was founded and historically inh ...

, Italy, to Giovanni Battista Vaccaro, a tailor, and Maria Rachele Laus. Vaccaro immigrated to the United States from his native country as a child, in 1902. He took his medical training at the Medico-Chirurgical College of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, graduating in 1916. In the first years of his career, he worked as a staff surgeon at

munition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

s plants run by E.I. DuPont de Numours Co., served in the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

, and made trips to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

to do medical research. In 1921 he was made Chevalier of the Crown of Italy for his efforts raising one quarter million dollars for rehabilitation of that country after World War I. His medical career was taking off at the same time, as he joined the staff of

Pennsylvania Hospital Pennsylvania Hospital is a Private hospital, private, non-profit, 515-bed teaching hospital located at 800 Spruce Street (Philadelphia), Spruce Street in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia, The hospital was founded on May 11, 17 ...

and was appointed to the medical faculty of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He published on a range of topics, both medical and historical. He had an academic interest in

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

. Further decorations earned by Vaccaro include the title Commander of the Crown of Italy and an honorary medical degree from the

University of Rome La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

. Vaccaro was married to Pierina Chiera, who was the sister of the archaeologist and writer Edward Chiera, discoverer of the famed clay tablets of

Nuzi Nuzi (Hurrian Nuzi/Nuzu; Akkadian Gasur) at modern Yorghan Tepe (also Yorgan Tepa and Jorgan Tepe), Iraq was an ancient Mesopotamian city 12 kilometers southwest of the city of Arrapha (modern Kirkuk) and 70 kilometers southwest of Sātu Qala, ...

Legacy

Vaccaro has been described as a "community spokesman" by Historian Richard A. Varbero in Allen Freeman Davis and Mark H. Haller's book ''The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and Lower-class Life: 1790-1940''. Varbero reprinted a quote of Vaccaro's that originally appeared in January 1929 in the Italian-American newspaper, ''La Libera Parola'', concerning 'Americanization.' In that article, Vaccaro stated "The ideals preached by the Americanization teacher do not coincide with the attitude of the gang boss, the native union man, the fellow workingman, who, although compelled economically to work with the alien, would not voluntarily have him as a neighbor. Theory and practice are not synonymous."Richard A. Varbero, "Philadelphia's South Italians in the 1920s" in Allen Freeman Davis and Mark H. Haller, ''The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and Lower-class Life: 1790-1940'', (University of Pennsylvania Press), p. 257.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaccaro, Leopold Saverio Year of death missing American surgeons American medical writers American male non-fiction writers Italian emigrants to the United States University of Pennsylvania faculty Medical educators American historians People from Rionero in Vulture Year of birth missing