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John F. Kennedy in Bellagio

A US Army helicopter lands not far from the town centre: John Fitzgerald Kennedy gets out.
Itπs June 1963: JFK is on a visit to Bellagio.
The president of the United States would be assassinated in Dallas just a few months later. 40 years on, memories of this prominent event are still very clear with the many Bellagio residents who saw him, shook hands with him, cheered and watched him.
His visit is immortalised in the pictures shot by Mr Lanfranconi, who has photographed many other well-known personalities
stopping off at the åJewel of Lake Comoπ over the decades.
Many still speak with great involvement on the subject of Kennedyπs stay in the town. They recount that, after the landing, there was a great commotion in the town centre streets and that when JFK passed by the crowds surrounded his car to welcome him, to see him in person, wanting to shake hands with the White House president.
A first-hand witness can still give an accurate description of the excitement and emotion experienced: ≥We were all eagerly awaiting his arrival and, when the many bodyguards began passing by, we all ran out of the shop to see him drive by aboard a car which, if I remember rightly, was open-topped≤.
≥He was a very attractive and well-dressed man. He smiled warmly at the crowds and we all stretched out our arms towards him in an attempt to touch him, to attract his attention or – for the luckier ones – to shake hands. Then his bodyguards crowded in round him but they let us come up close. I just brushed his hand but his smile is still with me≤. A few heart-felt words – a unique recollection.
His stay at Villa Serbelloni – host to the Rockfeller Foundation –was a brief one: he had work to get back to, far away from the åJewel of the Lakeπ, and fate stopped him from returning. But the Bellagio inhabitants present that day still fondly remember åthat very attractive and well-dressed manπ.

jfk a bellagio, TRUTH AND LEGEND
Although the story goes that he came to Bellagio in the company of his gorgeous wife Jacqueline, for a romantic getaway, President Kennedy in fact came alone and was a guest at the Rockfeller Foundation, in Villa Serbelloni.
And the tale that he was then joined by a lover, perhaps Marilyn Monroe, likewise seems to be an invention.
What is still today narrated by many Bellagio residents is more convincing: apparently Kennedy gave his bodyguards the slip so that he could go for a stroll around Bellagio without being recognised. They were all in a state and were looking for him everywhere. He was located not long afterwards, safe and sound, and the emergency was over. What is certain is that he stayed at the splendid Villa, whose fascinating history is well-documented. Princess Ella Della Torre e Tasso – a Detroit-born American and granddaughter of the entrepreneur Hiram Walker, founder of åThe Canadian Club Whiskyπ label – married Prince Alessandro Della Torre e Tasso in 1932, after her two failed marriages, and lived in Bellagio, inheriting his entire estate upon becoming a widow. She died in 1959, aged 83. Her will specified that Villa Serbelloni should be left to the Rockefeller Foundation on the condition that it be used for cultural activities.

This photo by Sandro Lanfranconi comes from the archives of the Bifolco brothers (the proprietors of Bar Sport) and shows Kennedy after getting out of the U.S. Army helicopter and as he is making his way towards the automobile. Ezio Gilardoni, owner of Taxi Boat, describes the scene for us: he was 11 in 1963 and the emotion marking his account reveals what an exciting event it was for him and other children.
<<The helicopter landed opposite Villa Sfondrata, which takes its name from the Marquises who previously possessed the residence. I was at Loppio harbour and I rowed until I was close enough to the shore that I could see what was happening. President Kennedy leant out of the helicopter, got out having a good look around, as if wanting to get to know his surroundings well, and then made his way to the car awaiting him a few metres away>>.

Sanfro Lanfranconiπs picture shows the handshake between John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Emilio Venegoni.
<<It was some time ago now but I still remember that moment so clearly. I saw the car get rolling to start taking the president to Villa Serbelloni and I ran towards it in an attempt to see him. When the car was near me I noticed the window was open and I stretched out my hand, which was squeezed. It was just an instant but it was a memorable sensation, an emotion. The photographer Lanfranconi captured this moment for posterity and his picture conquered the hearts of the numerous Americans visiting Bellagio. Many bought a copy, also because it is one of the last shots portraying JFK≤.
In fact, the president was assassinated just a few months later. ≥I would have liked to send him the photo, asking him to autograph it, but unfortunately there was no time for that, given the terrible thing that then happened>>.