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A CHERSINO SATISFIED
WITH HIS OWN AMERICAN LIFE My name is John Filipas. I was born in Cherso (now "Cres") on the 16th of May 1938. The island of Cres as is named nowadays is among the largest on the North Adriatic Sea. The island is rich in history and natural beauty. I left all this in 1951, together with my parents. We moved to Trieste where I remained for four years. Adventurous since very young, in 1956, at only 18 years of age, I immigrated to the United States. There I met and married Maria Concetta Ceglian, a Chersina that I knew from my childhood and who was my schoolmate. I liked America from the start and made it my permanent residence. I live with my wife in Whitestone, New York, close by her sister (Rita) and her brother (Nick) in the Beechhurst Area. For an immigrant, life was not easy in the beginning, especially without family for support. I had the good fortune of being employed at a company that had a need for an employee that spoke Italian well. This company was going to import machinery to tint eyeglasses. It was a new Italian method being introduced into the United States. Up to that time the dye was blended into the still molten glass, so the lenses had more or less coloring in the thicker or thinner areas. With the new method, the coloring was applied on the surface and it was indelible. This guaranteed the perfect uniformity. An engineer from Milan, Italy arrived to teach me how the complicated machine worked. After two years of working for the company, I knew enough to be able to work for myself. Together with my in-laws, we opened our own business in the tinting of prescription lensed sun glasses. Among our customers were major retail companies and fashion oriented American movie stars. After seventeen years in business, plastic lenses began to replace glass I decided to retire from the business and devote time to my hobbies. Being born on an island I always had an attraction to the sea. I bought a nice sail boat with which I participated in races with sailing clubs during the summer months. I am a member of several sport clubs such as sailing, skiing, hunting and art, as well as The Society Chersina of Astoria, NY. As a hobby, in the winter months, I began to construct model ships from scratch. I have made models of all kinds of sailing ships starting with galleys from the first millennium A.D. to ships of the 1900's. My latest work was a Venetian Galley that I was able to build thanks to the design sent to me by Luigi Tomaz, our historian and author of the book La Galia Chersana. The designs were obtained from the Museo Storico Navale of Venice at the insistence of a Chersin, Marino Bellemo a resident of Mestre. I am not a professional artist, I make the models as a hobby and I hope one day to be able to exhibit them properly. John Filipas
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| John's Artwork |
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 Greek
Galley
Circa 100 - 200 BC
30 in (76 cm) long
18 in (46 cm) wide with the oars
26 in (66 cm) high
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 Roman
Galley
Circa 400 - 500 AD
33.9in (86 cm) long
18.1in (46 cm) wide with the oars
19.7in (50 cm) high
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 Venetian
Galley
Circa 1600AD
38.2in (97 cm) long 20.1 in (53 cm) wide with the oars 35.8 in (91 cm) high
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 Viking
Long Ship
Circa 600 - 700 AD
35.8 in (91 cm) long
20.1 in (51 cm) wide with the oars
29.9 in (76 cm) high
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 Dutch
Galleon
46.1 in (117 cm) long
11.0 in (28 cm) wide
42.1 in (107 cm) high
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 New
Foundland Schooner
Circa 1900 AD
42.1 in (107 cm) long
7.9 in (20 cm) wide
40.1 in (102 cm) high
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 English War Ship
1800
40 in (102 cm) long
9 in (23 cm) wide
33 in (84 cm) high
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 American Whaling Ship, 1/4 scale
"Charles W. Morgan" 1841
28 in (71 cm) long
5 in (13 cm) wide
26 in (66 cm) high
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 American Brigantine, 1/4 scale
1850
36 in (91 cm) long
7 in (18 cm) wide
27 in (69 cm) high
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 Brigantine Privateer Rattlesnake
1860
37 in (94 cm) long
9 in (23 cm) wide
28 in (71 cm) high
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 American Fishing Schooner, 1/4 scale
"Benjamin W. Latham"
32 in (81 cm) long
5 in (13 cm) wide
30 in (76 cm) high
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 Bracera, 1/8 scale
23 in (58 cm) long
5 in (13 cm) wide
20 in (51 cm) high
Bragozzo, 1/8 scale
17 in (43 cm) long
4 in (10 cm) wide
15 in (38 cm) high
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