NEW ORLEANS — This year’s King of Carnival, Ludovico Feoli, has a resume’ like few others in the history of the Rex Organization.
Like most of his predecessors, he has a long record of civic involvement in New Orleans.
But the 2023 Rex, a native of Costa Rica, also speaks three languages, is a political scientist, an expert on Latin American affairs, a researcher and director of Tulane University’s Center for Inter-American Policy and Research.
On Tuesday, he will reign over Mardi Gras with the Queen of Carnival, Evaline Finlay Gomila, the daughter of Moylan and Gwathmey Gomila Jr. She is a student at the University of Virginia, where she is majoring in computer science with a minor in economics.
Like the queen, this year’s king also spends time on a college campus, as a research professor at Tulane, teaching courses in environmental and Central American politics. He earned both his master’s degree in Latin American studies and a Ph.D. in political science at Tulane. He earned a bachelor’s degree is in economics from Claremont McKenna College.
He is also executive director of a research center in his native San Jose, Costa Rica. Feoli first came to New Orleans in the mid-1970s to work with a think tank founded under the auspices of Tulane.
In 2000, he returned to New Orleans to live here full time with his wife of 35 years, the former Stephanie Stone. They have two children, Ileana, a senior public relations manager in New York; and Filippo, a financial advisor in New Orleans with First Horizon Bank.
In his adopted city, Feoli has been very active in charitable giving and philanthropy, including serving as chair of the Greater New Orleans Foundation.
“I happened to be active there right after Hurricane Katrina, which was a crucial time because of the tremendous need that existed in the city for philanthropic action,” he said. “And so I had a front line seat to witness what was going on in terms of reconstruction and many of the efforts that were afoot to direct that reconstruction.”
Feoli is also the co-chair of the Zemurray Foundation, established by his wife’s family and one of the largest private foundations in the city. He oversees charitable grants to numerous organizations in education, arts and culture, social services and the environment.
As Rex, he also celebrates the work of the krewe’s Pro Bono Publico Foundation, which this year raised and donated $1.6 million to local schools and educational organizations and since 2006 has donated more than $13 million.
“While recognizing the importance of Carnival and the pageantry and what it means, I think Rex does a wonderful job of also raising consciousness about the importance of being philanthropically and civically engaged,” he said. “What’s done though the Pro Bono Publico Foundation is exemplary. Public education is perhaps one of the most important things in a city’s life.”
Feoli also serves the Audubon Nature Institute as its treasurer and is a member of the President’s Council at Tulane. He has also been chair of the Bureau of Governmental Research and a board member of Catholic Charities, PACE Greater New Orleans, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the local chapter of the Posse Foundation.
His family has longstanding ties to the Rex Organization. His wife’s paternal grandfather, Roger T. Stone, and her father, Samuel Zemurray Stone, were both members of the Rex Organization.
In addition, this year’s parade theme, Palio di Siena, which celebrates an historic Tuscan horse race, especially resonates with Feoli, since his grandparents were born in Italy.
He said he is thrilled to be reigning as Rex 2023 and highlighted the parade’s importance to Carnival and the city.
“To have been selected as Rex is a tremendous honor, one that I had never envisioned or anticipated. It was an absolute surprise,” he said. “Although we talk about a king and a Queen of carnival, we have to remember that what really matters are the people out there. Carnival helps to bring us together and I hope that’s what this Carnival achieves.”
The Queen of Carnival, Evaline Gomila, known as Evy, graduated summa cum laude from Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts. At UVA, where she is on the Dean’s List, she was elected treasurer and education chair for Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She is also a frequent volunteer helping international students grow more confident with their English, literacy, and digital literacy skills.
Her resume’ also includes a summer internship with the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans.
“I think nothing brings the city together more than Saints games and Mardi Gras,” she said. “Interning for the Saints was such a unique and special experience to me because they were such a huge part of my childhood and they’ve given so much to the city. Being able to work for them and see what the inside of that looks like has been really awesome.”
In addition to being a lifelong Saints fan, her majesty loves the outdoors and horseback riding. Her father, a longtime Rex lieutenant, had fun with that while visiting her at college with the news she would be queen.
“When I turned around, he was holding out his Rex lieutenant’s riding crop with the purple, green and gold ribbons on it,” she said. “Then I was even more confused, but when I got closer, I saw that there was a little gold crown tied to it. And I was so shocked and surprised.”
She joins several family members who have served in previous courts of Rex, including her younger brother Frank, who served as a page in 2015; and her older brother, Moylan III, who was a duke last year.
“I’ve gotten to see the rest of my family participate in the ball and I’m excited to get to do that now,” she said. “It feels so surreal. It’s something I feel like every girl in New Orleans grows up dreaming about, but it’s so far from anything you ever expect to happen to you. And now that this is my reality, it really is something I can’t explain.”