Domenick Scaglione (1933-2019) was president of Intercontinental Associates Inc. New York, vice president of Chase Manhattan Bank and, since 1990, appointed Director of the Magna Grecia International Association, chaired by President Nino Foti.

The human and professional life of Domenick Scaglione was extraordinary. A story full of events that have probably made him one of the most outstanding Sicilian emigrants. “Mimì”, as he was affectionately called by everyone, went through a difficult childhood, being sent to an orphanage and seminary in a very poor social context.

After emigrating to New York in 1951, Domenick Scaglione earned four degrees and climbed to the top of international finance.

He was born in Partinico, a small town in the city of Palermo, into a modest family. Orphaned by his father, he emigrated to the United States in the 1950s and after a hard apprenticeship became an internationally renowned banker. Vice-president of the international department of Chase Manhattan Bank, responsible for Western European institutions, right-hand man of billionaire David Rockefeller, personal friend of Henry Kissinger, Gianni Agnelli and many other powerful people around the world, Scaglione was a member of the Board of the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund (AAEF), since 1995, and of the Council of the Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF) until 2019.

He personally dedicated himself to charitable works towards the needy and was a promoter of humanitarian initiatives in Albania. In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton chose him to manage a $30 million reconstruction fund in Albania on behalf of the U.S. government. With his savings, he founded the Albanian Children Fund in New York and the Albanian Children Foundation in Albania, which bears his name.

In that land he was also actively involved on a personal level. He built orphanages for Albanian children, hospitals to treat Mediterranean thalassaemia and to treat autistic children. He founded the American Bank of Albania and the Albanian Cultural Society. He was also a former president of the American Foreign Policy Institute in Washington.

She received the Order of Mother Teresa Medal from President Rexhep Meidani in 2000 and the Order of Skanderberg Medal from President Bujar Nishani in 2013.

Of this extraordinary man who made a career sustained by faith, in a Wall Street populated by cannibals, his humility was striking:

“I’m one of you,” he liked to say, “I have a normal life.”

In 2016, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary, the Albanian Children Foundation organized a reception in honour and appreciation of its founder. This reception was held in respect of the contribution and human values that Scaglione, dedicated over the last 20 years in terms of the health and well-being of Albanian children, testifying to an enormous encouragement not only for their families but for Albanian society as a whole.

He also proposed to donate to Partinico a 30-meter-high statue of Christ the Redeemer, to be placed on Colle Cesarò to watch over the people of Partinico. A work – according to his intentions – to invoke divine help on his native country, but also capable of attracting religious tourism. The city had mixed feelings about that proposal. Some were in favour, others believed that more concrete initiatives were needed to rescue Partinico from crisis. The matter was filed away to the great regret of Scaglione, who remained misunderstood.

Domenick Scaglione died at the age of 88, in his home on the outskirts of New York, where he had lived for 68 years.