This year, at the ICCI Annual Business Excellence Awards and Gala Dinner held at the White Bay Passenger Terminal, La Fiamma veteran journalist Armando Tornari received the award.
“Congratulations to Mr Armando Tornari from the Italian newspaper La Fiamma for his Hall of Fame Award,” Guy Zangari MP, Member for Fairfield said in an online statement.
“Armando is known as the Grandfather of the Italian community in NSW.
“He is a passionate reporter and photographer, always a presence at major events.”
Over the 13 years that the prize has been running, it has been awarded to noted figures from within the Italo-Australian community, such as Carlo Salteri, Gennaro Abignano, Carla Zampatti, Les Schirato and others.
A journalist at La Fiamma since 1978, Tornari has played a hugely important role in the activities of the Italo-Australian community.
He was a founding member of the Pensioners’ Union and the Young Italo-Australian Association, an organisation which provides scholarships in music, medicine, economy, information and banking.
His most revered role, however, has always been as a journalist, and his position at La Fiamma has allowed him engage with the community and establish long-lasting relationships with its members, as he continues to keep up-to-date on their lives, traditions and issues.
In his later years, Tornari also dedicated his time to the elderly, an opportunity which has allowed him to discover this large sector of the community which religiously preserves Italian traditions and celebrates them through spectacular events.
Tornari has formed a wide group of friends through La Fiamma who view the newspaper as a point of reference for the community, and as a tool which protects their rights in every area, including the struggle to save the Italian Forum Cultural Centre.
Italian studies has always been an important matter for Tornari, who continues to collaborate with institutions through ‘Il Gruppo dell’Amicizia in memoria di Enrica Inglese’, to provide scholarships for students of Italian.
