Victor Romanelli

1863-1915

He was not closely related to the famous Romanelli sculptors. Victor Romanelli was raised in Naples and attended the University of Naples before enrolling at the Seminary of Naples. Ordained on December 17, 1887, he found work first at the University of Naples as a professor of history and Hebrew.

In 1889, Bartolo Longo hired him as an assistant in establishing and operating a new church in Naples. However, his disagreements with others in the Catholic Church about the appropriation of funds and the use of newspapers led to him traveling to the United States to serve the rapidly growing population of Italian immigrants in 1896.

After twelve years of serving New York and New Jersey congregations, he came to Des Moines and started St. Anthony’s Parish. This move was quite conveniently timed, as many Italian immigrants were moving to Iowa to work in the quickly growing coal mining industry.

While in Des Moines, he became an advocate of the arts – an interest he likely brought from Italy. When the Des Moines Women’s Club had their grand opening celebration for Hoyt Sherman Place in 1907, Victor was the featured speaker for the event, giving a lecture titled “How to Judge and Classify a Valuable but Doubtful Painting, and How to Avoid Imposition in Buying a Painting”.

Unfortunately, Victor struggled with diabetes throughout his life and was only consistently in Des Moines for a few years before he returned to Italy to recover. He would continue to struggle with his condition until he passed away in 1915.