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The New York Society Library Receives $500,000 from the Peluso Family

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

New York, NY—The New York Society Library, the oldest library in New York City, is pleased to announce a generous gift of $500,000 by Ada Peluso and Romano I. Peluso. The Pelusos are making this gift in honor of their parents, the late Assunta Sommella Peluso and Ignazio Peluso.

Charles G. Berry, Chairman of the Board of the Library, commented, "The Peluso Family exemplifies the intellectual accomplishments and love of reading, literature and history that the Library has fostered and enjoyed among its members over its 253-year history. We are extremely grateful to them for this generous gift."

Ignazio Peluso was a member of the Library for several years before his death in 1981. His daughter, Ada, has continued the membership in her name since then and frequents the Library often.

Ignazio Peluso joined the Library after his retirement as Chief Chancellor of the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations. He previously was associated with the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC. Mr. Peluso, who lived nearby, joined the Library because of his love of books and reading, and he appreciated the restful haven the Library provided for those pursuits. Having a PhD in International Law and Economics, he particularly enjoyed history and other non-fiction and was also a collector of foreign antique books.

Assunta Sommella Peluso earned a PhD in Economics and was also a great reader, with a particular passion for Italian novels. Before her marriage, she was a teacher.

Ada Peluso is Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Hunter College, where she has been on the faculty for 40 years.

She earned her BA degree there and a PhD in Mathematics from the Courant Institute at New York Univeristy.

Romano Peluso is a Vice President at JPMorgan Chase Bank and holds a MBA from New York University. An expert on corporate trust matters, he is a frequent author of articles for the American Bankers Association.

The Peluso Family has a distinguished record of philanthropy, having made prior gifts and donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Hunter College.

In recognition of the generous gift of the Pelusos, the Library is naming the Exhibition Gallery/Hall on the second floor of its building at 53 East 79th Street as the "Assunta, Ignazio, Ada and Romano Peluso Exhibition Gallery." This space has been used for exhibitions of selected items from the Library's collection and other materials of literary and historical interest.