Pietro Rizzuto (; March 18, 1934 – August 3, 1997) was an Italian-born Canadian politician. Born in

Cattolica Eraclea Cattolica Eraclea (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo and about northwest of Agrigento nearby the Platani (river), Platani river valley. The town w ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, he came to Canada at the age of 20. In 1963, he founded , a construction company. In 1976, he was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

representing the senatorial division of

Repentigny Repentigny () is an off-island suburbs, off-island suburb of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located North Shore (Laval), north of the city on the lower end of the L'Assomption River, and on the Saint Lawrence River. Repentigny and Ch ...

, Quebec. He was the first Canadian of Italian origin to be appointed to the Senate. He was made a Grand Official of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

. He was married to Pina and had three children: Melina, Alfonso, and Maria Christina. He died in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1997.

References

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External links

* * 1934 births 1997 deaths Canadian senators from Quebec Italian emigrants to Canada Liberal Party of Canada senators Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery People from Cattolica Eraclea 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada Canadian people of Sicilian descent {{Quebec-senator-stub