The Taranto Aragonese Lions club, one of the most dynamic and multifaceted in the Apulian district (it is essentially a triune club, because it is the sponsor of the only high school Leo club in Puglia, and among the very few in Italy, founded in June 2019 agreement with the prestigious Battaglini scientific high school, but which also includes students from other schools among its members, and, from December 2022, of a Cuccioli Lions club, which brings together children and young people aged 6 to 12, a very widespread in the USA but little or not at all in Italy) has elected by acclamation the president for the 2024/25 financial year: he is the journalist and writer Giuseppe Mazzarino, professor of History of Journalism in the master’s degree in Journalism at the University of Bari Aldo Moro.
A transitional president, as he himself clarifies, called to the presidency for the second time (after 2013/14). Transition towards a new generation of presidents coming from Leo, the youth association sponsored by Lions International, from which he himself comes, already president and founding member of the historic Taranto Leo club (April 1978), the first of the then Azzurro district, which it stretched across the Adriatic from Leuca to the mouth of the Po. As from Leo, who have presided in more recent years, come the vice presidents who will support him, Patrizia Trovato (teacher) and Alessandro Castellaneta (engineer), and the treasurer Loris D’Andria (entrepreneur). The team is completed by secretary and master of ceremonies, Francesca Donnaloia and Mariana Rizzo, both teachers, the censor Angela Matera and the president of the members committee Cosmo Uglietta, retired (former municipal manager and former port pilot), all four former Lions presidents.
A partnership that bears the strong imprint of Leo, indeed, as the president-elect said 11 years ago, “the only Lions that has a Leo club as its sponsor club. Because, despite a happy convergence of different age groups and experiences, since its foundation the Aragonese has recorded a strong presence of former Leo members; and, as in the case of the newly elected, more than half of its presidents come from Leo. Another characteristic trait of the Aragonese is his propensity to network with other associations, club services and beyond (just ten years ago he was among the most convinced promoters of the Coordination between club services and service associations of Taranto, of which he is secretary organizational Angela Matera), and to promote initiatives of social solidarity and cultural and civil valorization of the territory (in particular aimed at young people) with a smile, and without ever taking itself too seriously. Born in 1954, Mazzarino is president of the national Aldo Moro Association of former students, former teachers and professors of the Archita high school, where he studied, and graduated in Literature at the Sapienza University of Rome.
He has held and holds various positions in journalism trade organisations: among other things he was vice-president of the correspondents of Italian newspapers from Rome; member of the editorial committee of the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno; national councilor of the Order of Journalists and Ucsi (Catholic Union of the Italian Press); vice-president of the Assostampa of Puglia; president of the auditors of the National Federation of the Italian Press, of the National Union of Journalists and of the Order of Journalists of Puglia; alternate mayor of Inpgi; He is currently a founding member, national councilor and member of the national executive board of Figec Cisal, the Italian Federation of Journalism, Publishing and Communication, the new trade union for information, journalism and communication. Leading parliamentary reporter for the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, after the suppression of the Roman editorial team he edited the culture and entertainment pages of the Taranto edition of that newspaper. Director since 2011 of the Puglia Historical Archive, the official organ of the Homeland History Society for Puglia, he collaborates with Taranto Buonasera, with the online newspaper Giorlistitalia and with various newspapers and magazines. Among his most recent works are “Il navigar dei Santi”, on sea processions in Puglia, and “Il Campionissimo. The Athlete of Taranto and competitive spirit in Antiquity”.
