John DeStefano

John M. DeStefano (died April 8, 2008, in Naples, Florida ) was an American sculptor, painter and businessman.

Born in Avellino, Italy, he immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts with his family at the age of six. DeStefano studied at the North Bennett Street Industrial School and earned a scholarship to attend the School of the Museum of Fine Arts but was forced to drop out after two years due to a lack of funds.

In 1933, while still a student, DeStefano created a cast bronze bas-relief profile portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that is located in the Roosevelt Room of the White House and is highlighted by tour guides. Former Boston mayors James Michael Curley and John F. Fitzgerald and two local businessmen provided the funds for the bronze and for DeStefano to travel to Washington D.C. to personally present the work to Roosevelt. In a 1979 profile, the Boston Globe referred to DeStefano as "the dean of local mannequin makers."

As an artist, DeStefano worked in cast bronze, terra cotta and stone. His sculptures are displayed at Plimoth Patuxet and at Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.