In 1949 Lou and Caterina Polledri – originally from the northern Italian city of Piacenza – opened the doors of Soho’s Bar Italia, where London’s caffeine-deprived Italians soon flocked for a real espresso and a chance to catch up on news from home.
Nearly 70 years later, Bar Italia remains an institution for Londoners and visitors of all nationalities. There are now so many Italians in the British capital that it is the fifth Italian city by population after Rome, Milan, Turin and Naples. Yet today’s Italian Londoners are as likely to be making financial deals and medical decisions as fantastic food and coffee (though their eminence in the culinary world is undiminished).
“My hairdresser, computer repairer, doctor, lawyer, dentist, greengrocer, the baristas at the coffee places I use are all Italian,” says Enrico Franceschini, a foreign correspondent for Italian newspaper La Republicca, who has lived in London for 13 years. “I hear Italian all the time.” His new book, Londra Italia, tells the story of how his country’s new wave of Anglo-emigration is helping shape the London of the future.
Italians are now bringing more of their skills, respected university education and culture to the UK than ever before. “We are no longer a nation of waiters,” says Franceschini. “There are more than 3,000 Italian doctors, nurses, architects, lawyers, brokers, bankers and shop assistants. There are academics at the top universities. You can mention any activity in today’s London and you will find Italians working in it.”
With chefs such as Francesco Mazzei and Giorgio Locatelli defining international Italian cuisine, and directors including Luca Guadagnino, Paolo Sorrentino and Giuseppe Tornatore releasing British-made films this year, Italy’s continuing influence in the fields for which it is traditionally revered remains strong, yet the “new story” is a much wider one, says Franceschini.
“It would be easy to say Italians open good restaurants and contribute to fashion, but it would be wrong, in my view, to list specific fields, since they are really present in all fields.”
The Italian Consulate reports that there are 250,000 Italians officially resident in London and the south of the UK. At least the same number again, it believes, is living here without official Consulate registration. Italian immigration is experiencing annual growth of around 60%.
Beyond the soaring symbol of Italian boldness in architecture – the Shard, London’s tallest building, was designed by Renzo Piano – Italians top many other professional fields in London.
The country’s long-celebrated prestige in the arts is embodied in Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, and music director of the Royal Opera, Antonio Pappano, both born to Italian parents.
While Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao and the founder of games company King (makers of Candy Crush) Riccardo Zacconi – both London-based – are high-profile examples of Italy’s new reputation for technological innovation.
“Italians in London are bringing something special,” says Franceschini. “They are clever and ambitious, they have character and energy. They bring exciting new ideas.”
London attracts bright and adventurous Italians, Franceschini says, because of its strong economy, opportunity, diversity and dynamism. Italians are made welcome, he says, with the British holding their country in real affection. “I feel at home here as a European. Italians know London. They have been here on holiday, they know the Beatles. It is foreign, but it is familiar.”
Increasingly, then, Italians are helping shape a new, ever more international city. “For some Italians going to work in Milan or London is now not much different. They don’t become Englishmen when they come here, but they share the very best of Italy.”
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