Three days after receiving approval from the U.S. State Department on April 20 to serve as the honorary consul for Italy in Atlanta, Angela Della Costanza Turner received the 2005 Citizen Diplomat Award at the annual ball of the Georgia Council for International Visitors (GCIV). The award is given periodically to individuals who reflect in their personal and professional lives the mission of the organization, which seeks to create positive and lasting connections between Georgians and people of other countries. Originally from Genoa, Italy, Mrs. Della Costanza Turner moved to Atlanta in 1992 and is married to Rhett Turner, a son of Ted Turner.
Mrs. Della Costanza Turner, who is a board member of the Atlanta chapter of UNICEF and an honorary board member of the Turner Foundation, has played a leading role in developing cultural, social, economic and business relations between Italy and Georgia.
In 1999 she was chairman of the First Italian Festival in Atlanta. An architect, she also served as guest curator of the “Art of the Architect” exhibition at the High Museum of Art in 2001, which showcased paintings and drawings by contemporary Italian architects.
She currently is organizing an executive seminar titled “Italy and the U.S. with the Expanding Global Economy,” at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and an Italian film festival.
During her remarks at the council’s ball, Mrs. Turner encouraged Georgians to participate in international activities. “We should not just depend on organizations like the GCIV to do all the work. It is the responsibility of each one of us to promote internationalism in Georgia.”
Mrs. Della Costanza Turner replaced Dr. John C. Munna, who served in the position since 1992.
To learn more about activities of the GCIV, call Francesca Cesa Bianchi at (404) 832-5560, ext. 11.