Vincent J. Fonelli Collection

Vincent J. Fonelli was born to Francesco Paola and Maria-Antonia Fonelli, on September 28, 1906, in Central Italy, near Salerno. The "J" in Fonelli's name stands for "Jacobus" in Roman, and "James" in English. He was the oldest of three brothers and two sisters. From boyhood, Fonelli had a great desire for art, and while in the Italian grade schools made his best grades in designing various objects. When he was about six years of age he told his father that he wanted to be a great artist. A little while later his father took him to Rome where he had some preliminary training in sculpture from a Roman Sculptor.

In June 1913, Fonelli had successfully convinced his aunt and uncle to take him to America, where he entered school, attending both day and evening classes to learn English. At sixteen, Fonelli obtained his first full-time job in a mechanical shop, while continuing school. He graduated from Bryant High School in Queens, New York and then entered Long Island City Technical School in Long Island, New York, becoming a first-class tool maker. At nineteen, Fonelli was admitted to Cooper Union Institute in New York to study intensively in Motor Vehicle Engineering, and passed his final examination with honors.

At twenty-three, Fonelli received his first United States mechanical patent in auto toys. Later he obtained a Canadian patent. Fonelli studied preliminary Aeronautical Engineering subjects at Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics, at New York University. In 1927, Fonelli opened a small private school of Aeronautics in New York, known as Aviation Engineering School. He received a Government Instructor’s License for Airplane Ground Work and a Civil Aviation Act (CAA) license as Ground Instructor of Aircraft.

In 1947, Fonelli attended the University of California in Oakland, California and in 1951 entered Columbia University in New York to study architecture, art, and sculpture. He furthered his artistic education in Washington, D.C. at the American University and the Corcoran School of Art. He later became Captain for a Navy project and received patents for inventing the heart-shaped bed.

Fonelli married Cleo H. Neher, his second wife in December 1959. Over the course of his lifetime, he was an architect, artist, sculptor, educator, and creative inventor. Later on in life, Fonelli suffered from a severe heart attack from which he never fully recovered. On November 29, 1972, he passed away in Florence, Italy, but was buried in the United States at Mount Saint Mary Cemetery, in Flushing, New York.