ANTONIO MAGAGNINI

MAGAGNINI--Dr. Antonio,

an obstetrician and gynecologist who practiced in Brooklyn and other parts of New York for 50 years, delivering 7,000 babies and training hundreds of surgeons, passed away in his longtime Cobble Hill home Thursday night March 16 at the age of 87. A gifted caregiver and surgeon who perfected the vaginal hysterectomy, his patients came from as far away as India, Africa and Europe. It was not uncommon for him to see three generations of women from the same family, and a member of his cardiology team was a woman he had delivered. He was born in the 1200-year-old village of Ostra Vetere in the Marche Region of Italy to Giovanni Magagnini, the mayor of the town and founder of one of Italy's first bus companies, and his wife Chiara, who became one of the first female principals and school superintendents in Italy. During World War II they hid a Jewish family in their home from the Nazis who occupied the village. A graduate of the University of Rome medical school, he met his wife, Jessie Cooper of Brooklyn, on a blind date set up by mutual friends while she was working at the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. He arrived in New York on Christmas Day 1954 with $400 in his pocket, and became the chief resident at Long Island College Hospital. Dr. Magagnini, who spoke Italian, French, English, German, Greek and Latin, quickly picked up Spanish and made house calls in Harlem, the Bronx, Williamsburg and east New York to supplement his income. By 1956, he had established his own OB-GYN practice in Brooklyn Heights, and went on to train scores of OB-GYN residents at Long Island College Hospital, many of whom continue to practice world- wide. Nearly every summer, he would return to his birthplace, and often consulted on surgeries and provided gynecological guidance during his vacations. He was recognized as Doctor of the Year by the Marche region and the province of Ancona. An inveterate reader, traveler, oenophile and raconteur, for 50 years he helped organize a monthly mangiata for several dozen doctors who ate, poured their best wines and told jokes and stories. The tradition continues to this day. Dr. Magagnini was preceded in death by his wife and beloved partner Jessie. He is survived by his longtime care giver Jovita DeLeon; his children, Stephen Magagnini and his partner Edith Shanta Sandoshem of Sacramento, Dr. Lisa Magagnini of Rome and Miranda Magagnini and her husband Matthew Pilkington of Brooklyn; and his grandchildren, Dante and Alessandra Pilkington, Marco Antonio Magagnini and Flaminia Narciso Magagnini. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to
the ACLU or Amnesty International.