Lagvanec Lecture! A History of St. Bartholomew

Cyril Lagvanec, PhD, the curator of the American-Italian Research Library located on the second floor of the East Bank Regional Library, will give a lecture on St. Bartholomew, Patron Saint of Ustica, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Ustica is a small Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 32 miles north of Sicily. An estimated 1,300 people live in the municipality of the same name. There is regular ferry service from the island to Palermo in Sicily.

In historic times, the island has been populated at least since about 1500 BC by Phoenician peoples. In the sixth century, a Benedictine community settled in the island, but was soon forced to move because of ongoing wars between Europeans and Arabs. In the mid-18th century, the island was settled by about 90 people from the island of Lipari, an island also located north of Sicily, but east of Ustica. They brought with them the patron saint of Lipari, Bartholomew the Apostle, who became the patron saint of Ustica as well.

In the mid-to-late 19th century and early 20th century, as the population of the island grew too large, hundreds of Ustican families emigrated to the United States. Many of these families settled in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Cyril Lagvanec earned his undergraduate degree in history from Baylor University, his master’s degree in British and European History from Tulane University, and his doctoral degree in American History from Texas A&M University. Through his long career, Dr. Lagvanec has taught at Jesuit High School, Tulane, Loyola, Delgado, Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, East Carolina University, and Texas A&M. 

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.