Amedeo "Tommy" Tommasini

Amedeo Tommasini (December 13, 1900 – December 25, 1983)

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Born in Buenos Aires in 1900 and raised in San Francisco’s Italian American neighborhood of North Beach, Amedeo “Tommy” Tommasini grew up in the world of type, ink, and craftsmanship. His family had run printing businesses in Abruzzo and Argentina, but it was his father’s move to San Francisco that rooted the Tommasini legacy in the Bay Area.

 

At Lowell High School, he excelled as both a student and an athlete, earning the chant “Run, Tommy, run!” from his classmates. Speed may have defined his youth, but printing would define his life. In 1917, he helped establish the club that would later become the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club, giving the community a place to gather, compete, and belong.

 

Tommasini’s work ultimately reached the world stage. In 1945, as foreman and production manager at the University of California Press, he was entrusted with designing and overseeing the printing of the original United Nations Charter in five languages. It was a moment where precision, purpose, and global diplomacy met — a document that still shapes international relations today.

 

His legacy endures locally and globally. The San Francisco Italian Athletic Club continues to anchor Italian American identity more than a century later. At the same time, the Charter he produced remains one of the most consequential documents of the modern era. Tommy Tommasini’s life proves that a legacy can begin on a neighborhood street and echo onto the world stage, built on community, excellence, and service.