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Belgian accordeon player Aimable Donfut is best known for his collaborations with famous singer Salvatore Adamo, although he recorded several albums of accordeon pieces on his own. Donfut and his wife Fernande, who had been a pianist with his band, Orchestre Musette, married after the war in 1949. The same year, they opened a record store, Donfut Musique, in the Belgian village of Jemappes (now part of Mons) that also sold musical instruments and sheet music and included a little music school. Their neighbors were an Italian immigrant family, the Adamos, who had moved there so the father could work in the mines. The 13-year-old son, Salvatore, who had already shown an interest in music before the war, had received a gift of a guitar; Donfut advised the father that Salvatore should have some lessons and suggested that their little school could teach him. Donfut recognized the boy’s talent and recorded his first songs, becoming Salvatore’s first music publisher. The two collaborated on many songs, such as “Sans toi Mamie,” “Beau masques,” and “En blue jeans et blouson de cuir,” as Donfut became Salvatore’s impresario. The young man went on to fame all over the world singing in numerous languages, while Donfut continued to manage the store for thirty years and to play and compose for the accordeon. Eventually his niece took over the store, and he retired to the nearby village of Saint Symphorien.

Italian composer Carlo Donida, born Carlo Donida Labati in Milan, trained at the Giuseppe Verdi conservatory there, studying both piano and composition. He began his musical career as a pianist for the group “The Dandies, then took a job with Casa Ricordi in the pop music section; he worked as an arranger but was more interested in composing. His first songs, in collaboration with Gian Carlo Testoni, were “Tell Me I Love You” and “Under the Almond Tree.” The latter was entered in the first Sanremo festival in 1951. Working with lyricist Pinchi (pseudonym for Giuseppe Perotti), he composed “Old Boot” and “Canzone da due soldi” both of which were international successes. In 1960 he began a long working relationship with Mogol (Giulio Rapetti) that resulted in 126 songs, many of which , including “Al di la” (Beyond), he presented in 12 appearances at Sanremo. His songs were covered by such artists as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Charles Aznavour. He also composed songs in the dialect of Milan, and created soundtracks for documentary and feature films, such as Rome Adventure, and for commercials. He formed the Compagnia di Donida with the goal of inspiring and supporting young artists, and founded the Premio Donida specifically for young composers.

Ignatius Donnelly was born in 1831 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died in 1901 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of Philip Carrol Donnelly and Catherine Gavin, and brother of writer Eleanor C. Donnelly. Donnelly attended Central High School and decided to become a lawyer while working as a clerk for Benjamin Brewster, who later became Attorney General of the United States. Donnelly was admitted to the bar in 1852. In 1855, he married Katherine McCaffrey and had three children. Katherine died in 1894 and in 1898, Donnelly married his secretary, Marian Hanson. In 1857, Donnelly moved to the Minnesota Territory and settled in Dakota County. He initiated a utopian community called Nininger City, but his attempt at a cooperative farm did not last due to the Panic of 1857 and left him in debt. From 1860 to 1863, Donnelly entered politics and was lieutenant governor of Minnesota. From 1863 to 1869, he was a Radical Republican Congressman from Minnesota in the 38th, 39th, and 40th congresses, a state senator from 1874 to 1878 and 1891 to 1894, and a state representative from 1887 to 1888 and 1897 to 1898. As a legislator, he advocated for extending the Freedmen’s Bureau to include access to education and was an early supporter of women’s suffrage. In 1882, Donnelly published his best-known work titled Atlantis: The Antediluvian World and established himself as a populist writer. His personal papers are archived at the Minnesota Historical Society.