Lily Martone

Lily Martone was born and raised in Napoli, the third largest Italian city and the birthplace of the original wood-fired Neapolitan pizza. After attending Liceo Classico, she earned her laurea in Lingue e Lettere Moderne at the Università L’Orientale in Naples. She moved to the USA with her husband in 1999 after falling in love with San Diego during their honeymoon. She also lived in Cary, North Carolina, and Houston, Texas, before returning permanently to the San Diego area, where she and her husband raised two sons, Camillo and James. In Cary and Houston, she taught the Italian language to students eager to learn her native language and culture. Lily has been teaching for the ICC since 2017, and her focus remains on her love for her students, who enjoy learning and practicing the Italian language and want to know about Italy’s culture and traditions. As a “vera napoletana,” she is truly passionate about family, traditions, history and arts, cooking, and calcio. Among other interests, she loves taking long walks by the beach, reading, watching sports events, and spending quality time entertaining family and friends with a glass of wine, espresso coffee, delicious pastries, and her husband’s famous, authentic pizza and homemade bread.