Nikoles Aleshi
KCQ spotlights Nikoles Aleshi and his ‘Virtuana Lengueje Sistem’
National Immigrants Day on October 28 celebrates the U.S. as a melting pot of diverse cultures, customs, and ethnicities and honors the perseverance and contributions of those who sought opportunity in America. Among them was Nikoles Aleshi, a poor Italian immigrant who built a successful grocery business in Kansas City at the turn of the 20th century. But he had grander aspirations of creating a new national language that would be easier for non-English speakers to learn. His story fascinated a local reader who asked What’s Your KCQ?, a partnership between the Kansas City Public Library and The Kansas City Star, to investigate it further.