Marion County, West Virginia Biography of DIEGO DELFINO, M. D. ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 287 DIEGO DELFINO, M. D. An especially varied and interesting professional career has been that of this representative physician and surgeon of Fairmont, Marion County. Doctor Delfino was born at Villa San Giovanni, Province of Reggio, Calabria, Italy, on the 6th of May, 1875, and is a son of John Vincente and Maria Antonia (Filocano) Delfino, the former of whom was but thirty-three years of age at the time of his death and the latter lost her life in the Italian earthquake of 1908. As a boy Doctor Delfino attended the schools of his native town, and after proper education along academic lines he entered Messina University, in the medical department of which excellent Italian institution he completed the full course and was graduated in 1905, after having been a student in this university for six years. He initiated practice in his native town, but in the latter part of 1907 he took the post of ship physician and surgeon on a trans-Atlantic passenger steamship plying between Naples and New York City. In 1908 he retired from this position and, after passing a successful examination before the Vermont State Board of Medical Registration, he established himself in practice at Barre, that state. He became a member of the local medical society and also of the American Medical Association at the time of his residence in Barre. Following the disastrous Italian earthquakes of 1908, the Doctor made a visit to his native land, and upon returning to the United States he engaged in practice at Canton, Ohio. Later he established himself in practice at Columbus, the capital city of that state, where he remained until 1919, when he came to Fairmont, West Virginia, where he has built up a substantial practice and where he has gained secure civic and professional prestige. While a resident of Columbus, in 1918, the governor of Ohio sent Doctor Delfino on a mission to Italy, in connection with World war issues, and he spent several months in Europe. In 1912 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Delfino to Miss Minnie Richner, of Canton, Ohio, and they have three children: Mary Ellen, John Vincent, and Cosimo.