Gerardo Ferlaino is the creator of italiani.it, the network of Italians in the world. Originally from Conflenti, a town in the province of Catanzaro, from an early age he was struck by the departures of his villagers and childhood friends to other lands, in search of a better future. He grows up and becomes an IT and marketing expert. His passion for technology earned him an entire page in the newspaper La Repubblica, when he is still a boy. Author of sites for large companies and professionals (he also creates one for the well-known cartoonist Jacovitti, ed), keeps in his heart the desire to combine the feelings he experienced as a child and the skills acquired over many years of computer studies. It does this by making the largest community of Italians in the world, an original project that aims to promote Italy and the Italian spirit.
Together with his wife Paola Stranges, editor of the online newspaper italiani.it, knight of the Order of the Star of Italy and general secretary of the Dante Alighieri Society of Malta, and their eldest son Emanuele, a graduate in International Business from London University, constitutes the italiani.it Foundation. Gerardo Ferlaino also involves his childhood friends in this adventure, as sensitive as he is to the themes that are at the basis of the entire project.
Gerardo and Paola live in Malta. The decision to live abroad only physically brought them out of Italy, where they often return. Whenever he is asked the reason for this choice, Gerardo Ferlaino points out that he is an Italian who promotes his country from abroad. In this exclusive interview he talks about his dream come true, now a successful international portal. italiani.it, his “creature”, the result of great passion and hard work. A site that has the primary purpose of spreading and enhancing the beauty, the good and the true of Made in Italy in the world.
Gerardo, how did the idea of starting italiani.it come about?
«It was born many years ago, it took shape in 2016, but in all this time it has remained in my head and heart. The domain italiani.it was registered on a winter night in 1996. In those years I was living in Rome, then, by choice, I returned to Calabria. I moved to Lamezia Terme and I started using the domain as an e-commerce, to promote Italian products. I soon realized that Italy was not yet ready for e-commerce. There was too much distrust of the internet and what it represented, therefore, I put my idea in a drawer and devoted myself to something else. I started developing software and creating websites for medium and large companies. Meanwhile, on the e-commerce italiani.it, still active, an infinite number of emails arrived sent by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Italians around the world, asking for information about Italy. I spent my nights answering all those requests that shared love and nostalgia for our country. It was precisely this strong attachment to the roots that, about five years ago, led me to create the site www.italiani.it, today the network of Italians in the world. Subsequently the project was enriched, and, to the newspaper www.italiani.it the Community has joined noi.italiani.it e ShopX a marketplace for the sale of Italian products ".
Of all those emails, do you remember any?
“One in particular. It was written by the son of a man originally from Gimigliano in the province of Catanzaro, who had emigrated fifty years earlier. He asked me for a present for his father: a photo of his home, where he never returned. I went to Gimigliano, which is not far from Lamezia Terme, took the photo and sent it to him. He thanked me, but noticed that the house was missing the attic, which in the past there was. I then decided to return to ask for explanations. I spoke to the mayor and the priest. They informed me that, a few years earlier, a heavy snowfall had caused the roof to collapse, which was then secured by the Municipality. I communicated the news to the person concerned who thanked me for the great and unexpected gift that thanks to me he had been able to give to his father, promising me that if they came to Italy they would come to greet me. They did it a year later, but I was in London. I did not have the opportunity to meet them and even today I am sorry not to have been able to meet them personally ».
What is the mission of italiani.it?
"It is to create a" virtual square " where Italians and lovers of Italy, scattered all over the world, can meet and find each other again. italiani.it is the container of many sites and wants to tell and promote our nation, to make its beauties known and admired, to rediscover the hidden villages. He wants to convey a sense of community and belonging to all those who follow us. He wants to be a point of reference for Italianness, Italian culture and local excellence and, above all, he wants to do it in a positive and constructive way ".
Can you explain your choice to live abroad?
«In September 2009, I moved to Malta with my family with the desire to make my children learn English. But this has never alienated my family and me from our country. Far from it. We continue to be promoters of Italy. Because being Italian abroad means becoming ambassadors of those distinctive traits that make us unique and inimitable. Feeling Italian everywhere and spreading our culture around the world is our value, our mission. On the other hand, Neapolitan pizza has become famous not for the Neapolitans who stayed in Naples, but for those who went around the world. The first year after the move was not easy. For this, we decided to share our experience with our compatriots who were arriving in Malta. We soon became a point of reference for the Italian community, for those who were there and for those who arrived. We have promoted solidarity among Italians; we organized parties to get together, also open to foreigners ».
Why was itMalta born before italiani.it?
«Italiani.it has always been the real project, but it was kept in the bottom of a drawer. Meanwhile, I had registered the italianiamalta.com domain, which is the current itMalta and, together with his friend Louis Zurzolo, which still collaborates with italiani.it, we have created the website www.italianiamalta.com. Mindful of that email received many years earlier, I had decided to create a site for the Italian community in Malta. The success was immediate: in a short time it had great visibility ».
What is the importance of itCittà?
"I'm the the heart of the project, represent Italy to be promoted. An Italy that is told by those who live there and know its potential. Because the purpose of italiani.it is to encourage people to build, to make Italy a better country, and everyone in our small way can do something to succeed. This is why I carry on my work with the collaboration, support and suggestions of everyone ».
Can you tell us what happened with the University of Portland?
"During the lockdown in March and April 2020, a teacher from the Italian faculty in Portland, Oregon - United States - sent us an email informing us that her students have studied Italian through our news. “I'm from Syracuse - wrote the teacher - and I've lived in America for 28 years. To be able to involve students with distance lessons, together with the other professors we have decided to assign them two articles per week, chosen from those you publish on your site". For us it was a great satisfaction, a further confirmation that what we do is appreciated everywhere. The result was a partnership between the university and italiani.it ».
What is the italiani.it Foundation?
«It is the social soul of italiani.it. Born on the initiative of my family, it involves my friends Giampaolo Carnivale, Lorenzo Stranges e Luke Meli. The Foundation aims to strengthen the bond between all Italians in the world and their country of origin. To pursue this aim, it carries out its function through the dissemination of the Italian language and culture, but also of science, traditions, art, music and sport. Recently, for the second consecutive year, we have offered scholarships to Argentine emigrants. This was also possible thanks to the support of Italians living in Malta and Australia. The collaboration between us is the spirit that animates the project. Today I can say that we are proud of what we are doing ».
In July 2020, the project that promotes the study of the Italian language in the world started. What does it offer?
«In 2020, the italiani.it Foundation financed 16 Italian language scholarships and also this year the selections for ten scholarships for the Italian language are underwayEach course is held online and, at the end, the A1 certification is issued (basic level established by the Common European Framework of Reference for the knowledge of languages - CEFR). For many, the certificate is also used to obtain Italian citizenship ».
What is "Italians forever"?
«It is a project with which the Foundation, in collaboration with the municipal administrations, aims to organize a trip for our compatriots abroad who want to visit their homeland. In January of this year, the Municipality of Conflenti and our Foundation signed the agreement for the management of the project. This will allow two conflentesi third generation boys to return to the country of their ancestors, to breathe its smells, to taste its flavors. These two young people were supposed to come in August 2020, but due to the pandemic the trip was postponed. The grandfather of one of them contacted us to express his gratitude. His voice broken with emotion, he said: "I hope to live long enough to know that my nephew has seen my country"».
What's in the future of italiani.it?
«The Italians who live in Italy and those who live abroad ask us to do even more. italiani.it intends to continue its work as a “promoter” of our country, which has given so much to the world in the history of humanity and which still stands out worldwide with its excellence. We will continue on this path, trying to offer more and more, always putting our heart and soul into it».
