14 Comments

Hi Emiko, Lucila from Argentina here! I was wondering if you know if the Trigiani book is in Italian, I could not find it online. Loved this post!

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Hi Lucila! Thanks for reading. I have seen several of her books in Italian -- I believe this one is called La Sposa Italiana in its Italian version! Try searching on ibs.it

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Hello Emiko, I had given up on researching my great grandparents in San Giovanni in Fiore in Calabria because I didn’t have their birthdates and reached so many dead ends. You have inspired me to continue my research. I live in Florida, so can’t fly to Calabria to see the cemetery. Did you say there is a website where I can access the records of the cemetery? I always love your posts. I think I will join your paid subscribers. I don’t want to miss anything!!

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Hi Angela, I know how you feel, it can be so frustrating when you reach a dead end. But it's amazing how everything is getting digitised now -- I tried googling the cemetery but didn't find a search available BUT I've seen San Giovanni in Fiore is in the Italian Government Ancestry search so you may be in luck there: https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/?type=registry Also see my link on how to interpret those documents you find there (and read the writing!), which might be helpful too: https://www.emikodavies.com/how-to-create-your-italian-family-tree/

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I just joined, YAY!!

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Thank you so much for the valuable information. I will give it a try and let you know how it goes! Grazie!!

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Ciao Emiko, What a fascinating read. You're putting in a lot of work to realise your roots and you write well. I was so excited to come across your site and thrilled to discover that my husband and I had happened upon your pretty town of San Miniato your summer before last.

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Thanks for reading! So glad you discovered San Miniato, it's a little gem.

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I have spent many a day in the old cemeteries and archives in Basilicata in search of answers to so many questions about my Italian family. That cemetery QR code is so cool, wish other towns had that. And Cisternino is a favorite flea market - can't get enough of Puglia ever! Something about your grandmother's geneological research in the 80s reminded me of Kate Morton's book, is it The Forgotten Garden?

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Im giving a talk about Taranto in June aboard Azamara, and found this map of the city (Mortier amsterdam 1750) then called Tarento and with a deer head in the stemma. would you like a photo?

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I love this post! I did some research on my family too, it's so intriguing to uncover the layers of the past .. Cannizzaro in Sicily and Trigiani in Puglia. I'm Adriana's cousin, I mentioned to her than you'd be a great candidate for her podcast You Are What You Read, she may get in touch with you :). I'm also a neighbor, I live to the south of y'all, will pop into the Enoteca one evening to say hello!

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What a coincidence! Please do come and say hello, would love to chat more!

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Loved reading this since we celebrated our daughter's wedding to a tarantino in Taranto last year. Especially your description of the old town... Spot on!

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It is such an interesting old town, I am endlessly fascinated by it!

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