Professor Gabriele Scardellato of the Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics passed away on August 8 after a brief illness.
According to Associate Professor Gabriella Colussi-Arthur, Scardellato will be remembered for his hard work, both as the holder of The Mariano A. Elia Chair, and for the two courses he taught. The course, AP/IT1791: Italians in North America, “was an important nine-credit foundations course in social science for many, many years prior to becoming a six-credit seminar course under LA&PS,” Colussi-Arthur says.
A tribute dedicated to Scardellato written by Professor Emeritus Roberto Perin and Colussi-Arthur on the Italian-Archives Project (ICAP) website, and posted to YFile, said that he played a major role in the lives of many students, as “he also oversaw important graduate scholarships and supervised graduate students in History.”
“Among members of the scholarly and Italian-Canadian community, including the Elia family, he was highly regarded and respected,” the tribute said.
Professor Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, who is currently the vice-provost, faculty affairs at Ryerson, says she met Scardellato in 2006 when she arrived at York. “I knew immediately that he was a collegial, passionate, and extremely dedicated scholar and teacher,” Iannacito-Provenzano says.
Among his many accomplishments, Scardellato played a key role in forming the ICAP in 2010.
“In 2010 he gathered together a team of community leaders, experts, and scholars in Ontario history, in Italian-Canadian and Italian Studies to found this organization,” Colussi-Arthur wrote in a fall bulletin for the Ontario Historical Society about ICAP. In the bulletin, Colussi-Arthur added its dedication to Scardellato in light of his passing.
I am not sure I can put into words how wonderful it was to work with Gabe, to be his friend and to learn from him.
In addition to this, Scardellato worked closely with Iannacito-Provenzano to plan a conference on Italian Foodways Worldwide, held at York in October 2017. “Gabe worked tirelessly to invite contacts from all over the world to make the conference a success,” Iannacito-Provenzano says.
She adds: “Shortly after, we co-edited the volume titled Italian Foodways Worldwide: The Dispersal of Italian Cuisine(s) which came out a few months before his passing. We spent hours over lunch and espresso (his favourite) reviewing submissions and preparing them for publications.”
According to Iannacito-Provenzano, Scardellato was always excited about presenting issues and questions in new ways. “He was thorough and meticulous in all his work,” she says. “He was really excited about the book launch we were planning and I am hoping to host it at York after COVID-19 in his honour.”
In the tribute from ICAP, Perin and Colussi-Arthur quote those who knew Scardellato as “a generous, welcoming and good-humoured man,” as well as “gentle, discreet and deeply dedicated to his work and family,” they said.
“He had a loyal following among undergraduate and graduate students who valued his unassuming nature, dry wit, quiet charm, and empathy. He was a devoted husband to Kathy, father to Matteo and Stephanie, and nonno to Rosalie and Camilla,” Perin and Colussi-Arthur wrote.
“I am not sure I can put into words how wonderful it was to work with Gabe, to be his friend and to learn from him,” says Iannacito-Provenzano. “I am certain that students, colleagues, and staff will miss him deeply and it will be very difficult to fill the void his loss has created for all of us.”
Excalibur extends our deepest condolences to Professor Gabriele Scardellato’s family, friends, and colleagues.
