Background
She was the daughter of Luisa Sisco and Luigi Petrone and sister to the lawyer Alfred Petrone. She was born in Portuguese Arthur, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay).
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Penny Petrone
Edit Profileeducator executive philanthropist writer
Career
She received her Doctorate in English Literature from the University of Alberta. Her research on the Canadian poet Isabella Valancy Crawford resulted in two books: The Selected Short Stories of Isabella Valancy Crawford and The Fairy Tales of Isabella Valancy Crawford. Petrone also pioneered the critical study of aboriginal literature in Canada with her landmark books First People, First Voices and Northern Voices.
Her Native Literature in Canada was the first book-length history of the literature of Canada"s First Peoples.
Foreign this ground-breaking research, Petrone was made an honorary Indian Chief by the Gull Bay Ojibwa and gained international recognition. After her retirement from Lakehead University, Petrone"s scholarly focus shifted to the study of her Italian heritage.
She formed "I Literati", a local reading group which focused on Italy"s cultural heritage in the fields of literature, art, music, history and film as well as on the Italian immigrant experience in North America.
Achievements
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During her lifetime Petrone received many honours and awards: The Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay Citizens of Exceptional Achievement Awards (Culture) in 1981, 1984, and 1989, L"ordine d"onore from the National Congress of Italian Canadians (1994). The Order of Ontario (1992). Canada 124 Medal (1992). Honorary Citizen of Piane Crate (1997). The Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). The F. G. Bressani Literary Award (2002). The Kouhi award for "her outstanding contribution to writing in Northwestern Ontario" (May 2004). Petrone was also the recipient of Lakehead University"s first "Distinguished Teacher" Award in 1989 and the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations teaching award (1988). Two buildings have been named after her. Her contributions to the arts in Thunder Bay is noted in the renaming of Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay to Magnus Theatre - The Doctor S. Penny Petrone Centre for the Performing Arts. In honor of her commitment, through the endowment of scholarships and bursaries of over a million dollars for students at the Lakehead University campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, (NOSM), the facility which houses the West Campus of the NOSM Health Sciences Library is now called the Doctor Serafina "Penny" Petrone Health Information Resource Centre.
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Born
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Died
August 22, 2005 (aged 80) -
Nationality
Canadian