Felix Bruno Giovanelli (1913-1962) was born in Eveleth, Minnesota on January 2, 1913 and obtained B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois. While attending the University of Illinois, Giovanelli was involved as a student officer at Newman Hall and later had an interest in Catholic novelists. Indeed, in 1939 he presented on "Modern Catholic Novelists" at the St. Louis University Lecture Forum. He obtained a professorship in French at Illinois until his transfer to St. Louis University as an Assistant Professor of Romance Languages in the late 1930s. He married Margaret Wixsom in Cook County, Illinois, December 31, 1936. In his 1940 draft registration card, Giovanelli is living at 3637 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri and working at St. Louis University. During World War II, Giovanelli spoke for the interests of Italian Americans and advocated for an Italian Legion "to fight against Mussolini and the Fascist regime" ("Free Italian Group Proposed in St. Louis"). In 1945, Giovanelli relocated to New York University, again as an Assistant Professor of Romance Languages. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Giovanelli reviewed books for the New Leader and Italica and worked on novel translations for short stories and articles. He died of complications from cancer July 25, 1962. Margaret Wixsom Giovanelli died in 1997, and they are buried at Edgar Cemetery in Paris, Edgar County, Illinois.
Sources
Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
"Felix Giovanelli, Educator, Was 49." The New York Times, Saturday, July 28, 1962.
"Free Italian Group Proposed in St. Louis." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11 January 1943.
"U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: University of Illinois; Year: 1935.
"150 Topics on St. L. U. Lecture Forum." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 26 November 1939.
Author: Jonathan Puckett
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