Adriana A. Davies was born in Italy and grew up in Canada and has BA and MA degrees from the University of Alberta and a PhD from the University of London, England. She is a historian, poet, curator and specialist in fine and decorative arts. She authored two volumes of the Dictionary of British Portraiture; was Science and Technology Editor of The Canadian Encyclopedia; and creator of the Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Her publications include Changing My Skin: Dark Elegies and Other Poems; From Realism to Abstraction: The Art of J. B. Taylor; The Frontier of Patriotism: Alberta and the First World War (co-editor); The Rise and Fall of Emilio Picariello; From Sojourners to Citizens: Alberta's Italian History; and My Theatre of Memory: A Life in Words. She is a recipient of an Order of Canada and is a Cavaliere d'Italia.
I have been involved as a writer and editor in the field of Canadian history including fine and decorative arts for over 40 years and can speak to both specialists and non-specialists. I have also done presentations to students, primarily of high school age.
"Bootlegging in Western Canada" - The presentation was based on my book "The Rise and Fall of Emilio Picariello" and addressed the passing of Prohibition legislation; police enforcement; entrapment of Picariello in a liquor run; trial and execution. My book dealt with all of the information avaialable including trial records and newspaper accounts as well as private documents and presented the very real possibility that he was innocent.
I have also done workshops/presentations on votes for women, immigration history (in particular Italian immigration to Canada), the Work of Artist J. B. Taylor, etc.
Most recently I have done a presentation on Alberta's Italian history for the Calgary Italian Club Language School.
