MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER:

A SOLDIER DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR.

My father always tells me stories about our ancestors. The story of my great-grandfather

Pietro is worth reminding. He was born in 1893 and took part in the First World War between 1915

and 1918 when Italy fought against Austria.

My father told me that during this horrible war soldiers lied in wait in trenches, long gullies

carved along the front, where frequently they died of cold and starvation; they also died of

gangrene as a result of serious injuries from the blasts of machine guns fired by the enemy.

My great-grandfather also told my father that at the beginning of the war, after the first

battles, the Italian army had suffered a tremendous defeat at Caporetto. Here thousands of Italian

soldiers died, so the government was forced to send to the front sixteen years old boys born in

1899; in fact, nowdays, in many Italian cities you can find streets named after them.

After this defeat, the soldiers were not disillusioned and kept together despite the difficult

living conditions in the trenches; they helped each other even if they came from different regions in

Italy and spoke different dialects.

Telling his story as a soldier, my great-grandfather felt sad reminding all his companions who

had not been lucky like him because they had died during the war.

Besides, he remembered the awful scenes seen coming back home from war with his

companions on foot or by makeshift means: they met young and desperate widows with their

starving little children whose loved ones had died at war, old people who needed help and care.

On their way home they tried to took shelter in a house: they thought that the family who

lived there could offer them something to eat and a place to rest, but the young widow, her eight

children and her old parents who lived in that house had nothing to eat. So, the young unselfish

soldiers offered those unlucky people their food supplies and took care of a little sick baby.

This story impressed me a lot and now I am aware of the common selfishness which

characterizes contemporary society; in times when people suffered hardships, in spite they were

poor they helped each other and showed their solidarity with whoever needed aid.

Besides, I realized that man should solve problems and difficulties peacefully because war is

destructive.

Simona Bufano

A LEGENDARY MAN IN MY FAMILY

Carlo Calò was an ancestor of mine born in Carovigno in 1833 and died in 1933 when he

was almost one hundred years old. I can say that he is a sort of legendary character in my family:

first of all he was very tall, strong, brave and bold.

Unfortunately, we haven’t so many documents or information about him. The only

document we have is an old photograph in which he sat for a famous artist of his time who

noticed him while walking along the street and took him to Rome; in fact, at the age of forty he

sat for this artist who was restoring St. Peter statue in Rome. For this reason he became very

famous both in Rome and in Carovigno and was considered a sort of myth.

He became much more famous when, thanks to his fine physique, he fought against a

bear… and he won, of course!

So, I can say that I’m proud of him because he was an unusual character who experienced

extraordinary events.

Gaia Casula

MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER ANTONIO

My grandmother Agnese often told me stories my great-grandfather Antonio. He was born

on 4th April 1912 and was the second of nine children. Unfortunately, three of them died from

cholera, a disease very common in those times.

Antonio was a countryman very skilled in pruning trees and set up the first shop of

pesticides in Carovigno. He married when he was twenty-four; three years later took part in the

Second World War when he was already father of two children. He had been fighting for four

years and then, fortunately, he took up a post as a clerk in the army as he was also an educated

man.

In 1945, at the end of the war, he came back home and, as my grandmother tells me, he

always sang the songs of the war and, in the evening, he used to tell stories to his children.

Despite famine and misery they were very happy and he always managed to feed and support his

family.

He died at the age of eighty-seven when I, Beatrice, was only seven months. I’m very

proud of him and the fact I met him makes me happy. To remember his commitment to the

country, during his funeral some songs, typical of the “bersaglieri” corp were performed.

I would like to end my story reminding the Fallen, the soldiers died at war, and all those

people that everyday run the risk to lose their lives to defend their mother country.

Beatrice Cavallo

A GENEROUS MAN IN HARD TIMES

My great-grandfather was born in 1866. In those times, only few people could go to school

and learn. He attended the first and second grade classes and he thaught his relatives and friends

what he had learned. So, he was educated and very generous, too.

My grandfather told me an interesting and amazing story about him: during the Second

World War some British prisoners escaping from the Germans arrived in Carovigno and my

grandfather hosted one of them for a few months hiding him in an old “trullo”, a traditional

Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof. One day, the English prisoner was very hungry and tried

to eat some Indian figs which grew on a blooming plant near the trullo. As he had never seen this

fruit in his life, he tried to pick them up with his naked hands and hurt himself with the thorns.

Love arrived unexpected when he met a cousin of my grandfather’s and fell in love with

her. When the war ended, before returning to his country, he promised that one day he would

return and marry her. In fact, after two years he took her to England with him, they got married

and had four children.

They come on holiday in Carovigno every year and are proud of their Italian orgins. John,

the English man, is still grateful to my great- grandfather for helping him in hard times.

Daniela Antelmi

MY GRANDPARENTS’ BIG FAMILY

My grandparents had twelve children and the most extraordinary thing is that my great

great grandfather lived with them in a house in the countryside.

My grandparents worked hardy all day, they were peasants and because of their poor

economic conditions some of their children had to be housed in boarding schools for the poor

very far from home. Unfortunately, each of my uncles and aunts attended different schools, so

they were disappointed and sad because they couldn’t live with their family any more. They had

been living in these schools for over ten years and then they decided to leave and look for their

beloved parents, but when they came back home they knew that their mother had died.

After few months, my grandfather decided to leave the countryside, moved to Carovigno

where he bought a large house and started a new life with his sons and daughters.

Unfortunately, my grandfather died when I was eight. He was very strict, but I loved him

very much because he was a father to me.

Now, I would like to tell you something curious I found out about my surname: “Iaia” was

the title of a LP by Mario Lavezzi, a famous Italian singer in the 1970’s. Besides, “Iaia” is a

character in “The never ending story”, a fantastic novel by the German writer Michael Ende.

Angelo Iaia

MY GREEK ORIGINS

My mother’s surname is Parianò. It is a Greek surname, in fact my grandfather was born in

Greece.

My great grandparents met in Greece in the 1940’s. My great grandfather, Oronzo Bottacci,

went off to war and landed in Greece on Samus Island.

My great grandmother belonged to a very rich and important family in Samus, so she

preferred to hide her relationship from their parents. Some months later she found out to be

pregnant, so she revealed the truth to her parents.

In the meanwhile, my great grandfather had come back to Italy and his son Carmelo was

born in 1945. As my great grandmother was not married, my grandfather Carmelo had her

mother’s surname, Parianò.

They had been writing to each other for four years when my grandmother left for Italy with

his child. They got married, but they couldn’t change their child’s surname, which it’s still Parianò.

Greta Lanzilotti

INTERVIEW WITH MY GRANDFATHER

Grandpa, I know you were born in Africa. Please, tell me something about your life.

In Africa there is Eritrea. A country that was an Italian colony. I was born during the 2nd World

War in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. It is 2400 metres above the sea level.

Why were you born in Asmara?

My father, your great grandfather Livio, was born in Carovigno in 1913. His mother, my

grandmother, was Carmela Andriani and my grandfather was Pasquale.

Carmela was a teacher and Pasquale had a bike rental shop and worked in plots of olives

grooves. My father lived in Carovigno until he was 13 years old; then he moved to Milan where he

worked at Alfa – Romeo as a turner and in the racing experience room. He lived with his brother,

a Superintendent of Police, who moved to Lybia in the ‘30s. My father has spirit of adventures: he

gathered several friends and they embarked all together as ship’s boys on the ships that plied

from Naples to Tripolitania. He liked this experience so much that he became a volunteer in

Eastern Africa during the conquest of Etiopia in 1935. … Are you getting bored, Carolina?

No, I’m not. I’m very interested.

After the war, my father decided to stay in Eritrea where he opened a business of road

construction. He met my mother and they decided to get married, but the 2nd World War broke

out and he was called up. Italy lost the war, my father was captured but he managed to escape

and took refuge in Asmara. There he married my mother in 1942 and I was born in 1943.

Grandpa, tell me something about you, now…

I remember everything about my life in Eritrea. I was 15 years old when we moved to Italy

again. Asmara was a beautiful city, built by Italians, in a style that makes it unique in Africa still

nowdays. There were beautiful houses with gardens of flowers and tropical plants, cinemas,

theatres, places to have fan. Near our house there was St.Antonio mission where I served the

Mass and became a boy-scout.

I attended school in Italian state schools where English and the language of Eritrea were

compulsory subjects. I always hunted with my father and we stayed out several days, as you can

see in the photos. We often spent our weekends in Massaua, on the Red Sea to bathe. The

beaches were protected by nets in order to avoid the approach of the sharks. We could have bath

at the sunset and the temperature reached to 50 grades. I had fun with my friends in the gardens

while we were catching the chamaleons or finding the hedgehogs under the “figs from India”. We

had tropical fruit, mango, papaya, fruit from Paradise and casimiri.

What did you know about Italy?

I knew all that my father told me and what I read in the newspaper coming from Italy. It was

very nice when some Italian famous actors came to work in our theatre: Totò, Macario, Renato

Carosone. And you have to know that the actor Remo Girone was born in Asmara, too. He lived

there for many years like the singers Nico Fidenco and Bruno Lauzi and many others. Moreover,

our Italian teachers told us a lot of things about Italy: how it came out of the war and how difficult

was life in the ‘50s.

Why did you move to Italy?

In 1957 my father decided that we had to study in Italy. So we left Massaua on the ocean

liner “Surriento” and after a voyage of eight days across the Red Sea, we arrived to Naples. Then

we moved to Bari where my father found a new job and we started a new life. After my

graduation, I was hired in a great company that produced trucks: I wanted to come back to

Eritrea and this company had plants abroad, too.

Have you ever come back to Asmara?

I came back to Asmara and I shot many countries in Africa and in Middle East by organizing

and opening great workshops. As you already know, finally I managed to open a workshop in Bari

on my own. However I am writing all about me and my family in order to remember forever what

we have been and what we have done.

Can you tell me something about the origins of your surname?

Well, Santoro is an Italian surname. It comes from the Latin word “sanctus” that means

“saint”.

Nevertherless we are not sure about the birth of the name: someone says that it was used by

friends and neighbours to indicate people who were “saint”; other say that it comes from a

merchant who sold pictures of saints.

What we know is that every Italian surname has got an uncertain origin because in Italy, until

the 19th and 20th century, nobody used a fixed spelling to write surnames. Everybody changed

the spelling according to his own will, or adding “ini” or “ello” in order to say “son of”.

Thank you Granpa!

Carolina Caccetta

THE HISTORY OF MY FAMILY

My surname LORUSSO is a typical Apulian family name, maybe it comes from a dialect

nickname LU RUSSU, for a red feature colour hair.

My grandmother often repeats to me to study because when she was twelve like me, she

couldn’t go to school, she had to take care of her three brothers and of her sister, besides she

worked in the countryside to harvest tomatoes, olives and vegetables. In the past life was very

hard for children!

My grandmother told me that there wasn’t the TV , then , in the evening, people used to tell

stories , to sing and to dance all together. For feasts they couldn’t have new clothes and then my

great –grandmother took the old clothes off, she cut them and she put them together and so the

new clothes were ready!

Christmas was above all a religious holiday, people decorated Christmas tree with biscuits,

mandarins and sweets; there was no presents but only happiness and fun among children.

I remember that when I was child, I liked listening to my grandmother telling stories about

her childhood, how she spent her time playing funny games. As I had electronic games and toys,

I was amazed, I couldn’t understand how girls could play with rag dolls and boys with caps or

buttons .

Tania Lorusso

MY FAMILY

My family name, VALENTE, is very common in Puglia and Lazio, it comes from the latin word

“valens”, from the verb “valere” , it means to have a good health, to be strong, or maybe from

the adjective “ valente” , meaning to be able .

My family is from Carovigno, the house where I live belongs to my family, from generation

to generation, there is my family history in it.

The wealth of my family comes from my grandparents’ work, the hard work in the fields. I’m

proud of them because today my parents have a good job, they often remind me to study in

order to make better my future life.

My grandparents have a typical nickname, like in many southern Italian villages; my paternal

grandfather is famous like “lu scappacipodda” because he picked up onions in the fields; my

maternal grandfather’s nickname is “dodicimilaliri” , because he was very rich.

Sometimes, in winter’s evenings, my grandparents remember when they were young, all the

sacrifices they did for their children but also their love for family. There was no confort , no

technology for children, many years ago.

It is very nice when my grandmother tells:” In winter , we gathered round the pot and we

told tight or incredible stories because only rich people could allow the TV. In summer children

played in the street, without dangers, we were thoughless”.

My grandmother was the eldest of her sisters, she was very busy in the morning because she

cleaned, she ironed, she cooked for her family, she attended the 4th elementary school. My

grandfather is illiterate because he worked in the land, from daybreak to sunset.

On Christmas there wasn’t Father Christmas but only “Befana”, a kindly old witch who

brought simple presents like mandarins, walnuts, sweets made in family and coal.

My grandmother tells: “In the past, family was balanced, no one was disrespectful, nobody

disobeyed their parents , parents were parents and sons were sons, today there is only a big

confusion, today there is the chaos.

Vito Valente

EGLE’S STORY

Hi, I’m Egle Massa, I’m twelve and I attend a second class of “Morelli” Middle School in

Carovigno.

I asked my father some questions because I wanted to know much more about the origins of my

family.

My father is Michele and he works in a bank; my mother is Liliana and she teaches IT

(Information Technology) at a High school. I have got only a younger sister Ludovica who is in a

third class of Primary School.

Well, my dad told me that his ancestors came from a little town near Naples whose name is just

Massa Lubrense and they had the noble title of Barons.

After some time their offspring moved to Lecce in Puglia. All of them were bank clerks; my

grandfather Giovanni was sent to Bari at the “Bank of Italy”. And there in Bari he got married and

there my dad was born.

My grandad took part to the II World War, he was imprisoned by the German troops and

enclosed in a concentration camp and then he received the War Cross.

In the Dvd there are some photos of my grandad: my favourite one is that where my grandfather

is riding a horse and he is wearing a uniform.

Poor grandpa, he has been through a lot , I can tell you! Anyway, when he was with his

granddaughters he was always so pleasant and lovely.

Did you like my story?

ENRICO’S STORY

Hello. I’m Enrico and I’m in class II A at “ Morelli” Middle School.

My surname , Lanzilotti, is very popular in Carovigno as you can see if you have a look at the

telephone book!!!!

From a research on the Net I have discovered that this surname comes from a noble family of

barons who lived in Sicily some centuries ago.

Some branches of the family moved to other Italian regions, three of them to Apulia.

Some “Lanzilotti” have had important jobs in the managenent of my town.

But … talking about my relatives, I want to tell you the story of my greatgrandfather Oronzo

whom I’m very proud of.

He was orphaned very soon because his mum died when he was born , his father brought him

and his two little brothers up helped by his second wife.

He was very good at school, but he left school very soon because his family was poor.

At the age of 25 he bought some land for little money on the outskirts of Carovigno . It was a dry

and stony land but he sank a well and transformed it in a rich soil.

Then he got married to my greatgrandmother Lucrezia and they had two children who studied

and got important jobs.

My greatgrandfather was a cheerful and generous man, always ready to give advice and help

other people.

His life is an example that you can overcome obstacles thanks to goodwill and sacrifices.

ANTONELLO’S STORY

Hello, I’m Antonello and I want to tell you the story of my greatgrandfather Nicola Marinò.

He was born to Gemma Pagliara and Vincenzo Marinò in Carovigno on 13th January 1920.

He got married to Filomena Lotti and they had four children, one of them is my granny Gemma .

My grandad Nicola was a hardworking , he worked as a carpenter and as a salesman of furniture

and domestic appliances until 1962.

When he was about thirty he started to dedicate himself to politics.

Firstly he was a councillor of my town and then he became major of Carovigno from 1964 to

1970. He did a lot of works for our town, he built streets and schools. Later he was elected

councillor of our district and he filled this job for five years.

In 1982 he retired and he devoted himself completely to his family. He died on 24th February

2003.

Antonello Sacchi

FEDERICO’S STORY

My grandmother always tells me a lot of stories about her childhood.

She was born in the 1920’s, so she was a young lady when the II World War broke out. When

there were bombing her family moved to the countryside: they suffered hardships and hunger

and only the luckiest people had a field where they grew crops.

Money was not enough to buy clothes or shoes, in fact she had only a summer dress and shoes

and winter ones.

Because of the difficult conditions of life in most families, marriages were often planned; the

future bride’s father chose the husband in order to improve his daughter’s way of life.

My grandmother always reminds her childhood and youth with joy and cheerfulness. It was a

time when people were able to appreciate even the most common and simple aspects in life.

Federico Lapenna