First Lady Jill Biden arrived today at the Sigonella Naval Air Station military base in Sicily to visit Gesso, in the province of Messina, the place where her great-grandfather was born.
The town had eagerly anticipated her arrival and made all the necessary preparations to welcome and confer honorary citizenship on her. During her speech given in the town square, the First Lady said, “The value of loyalty, hard work and the spirit of generosity that my great-grandparents brought to America are still alive. I feel the warmth of home here today. As First Lady, I was able to bring the whole Italian American community together.”
Jill Biden’s Italian origins are enshrined in documents kept at the Gesso ethno-anthropological museum, from which it can be seen that Jill Jacobs Biden is the granddaughter of Domenico Giacoppo, her great-grandfather, who emigrated to the United States at the tender age of one. Today the First Lady has an eighth cousin, 68-year-old Caterina Giacoppo, a lifelong resident of Gesso. However, this is nothing new. When Joe Biden ascended to the White House in 2020, the First Lady’s Italian origins made headlines, and the cousin had expressed a desire to meet her during interviews with local newspapers.
In the afternoon, the First Lady will attend an event titled “Joining Forces” where she will meet military-related families and give a speech at the Naval Air Station. Dr. Biden will stay in Sicily for one day only to continue the tour that includes stops in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and France.
