Date of birth: 7 December 1922 Place of birth: Marano Vicentino, province of Vicenza Arrived in Australia: 1 November 1957 Occupation: Factory Worker and Out Worker Marano lies at the feet of Mt. Pasubio. My town is a country town. Back then the majority of the people were farmers but they had children who went […]
Tag: For A Better Life We Came
Cristina Luisetto (b. 1928, Asiago, Italy)
Date of birth: 25 January 1928 Arrived in Australia: 28 November 1958 Occupation: Spray Painter, Housewife, Machinist I went to school until I was twelve years old, I did form one. Then I stopped because dad was an invalid. He had worked for many years in the mines – he even went to America but […]
Franco Schiavoni (b. 1957, Calvello, Italy)
Date of birth: 9 May 1939 Place of birth: Calvello, province of Potenza Arrived in Australia: 1957 Occupation: Teacher My first major shock here was, when [on] a Saturday night a friend and I were assaulted on the corner of glenlyon road and Sydney road in Brunswick, by some australian youths. This was compensated by […]
Nancy Torresi (b. 1937, Marsicovetere, Italy)
Date of birth: 23 March 1937 Place of birth: Marsicovetere, province of Potenza, Italy Arrived in Australia: 10 April 1958 Occupation: Professional Dressmaker and Factory Proprietor My town is a small one, situated on a little mountain where it always snows in winter. We lived as tenant farmers, we had a small house with […]
Maria Piccardini (b. 1938 Noto, Italy)
Date of birth: 5 May 1938 Place of birth: Noto, province of Syracuse, Italy Arrived in Australia: 19 December 1966 Occupation: Dressmaker/Factory Worker/Housewife [Noto] is a beautiful town. When I left it, there were 45,000 inhabitants, but unfortunately we had to leave, because our small town was more for the rich than for the poor. […]
Ruggiero Sernia (b. 1916 San Severo, province of Foggia, Italy)
Date of birth: 16 March 1916 Place of birth: San Severo, province of Foggia Arrived in Australia: 2 February 1956 My father was a guitarist and he also knew how to play the mandolin. My grandfather, his father, also played the violin, so music was hereditary in our house. When I reached my tenth […]
Paul De Angelis (b. 1907, Capoliveri, Isola d’Elba, Italy)
Date of birth: 11 March 1907 Place of birth: Capoliveri, Isola d’Elba Arrived in Australia: November 1924 Occupation: Men’s Hairdresser Six was the age to start school. When I finished primary school I was pretty old, I was about twelve years old. I wanted to continue and my grandfather was ambitious to make me […]
Labrini Genoglou, (b. 1929, Skepasto, province of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece)
Date of birth: 21 May 1929 Place of birth: Skepasto, province of Thessaloniki, Macedonia Arrived in Australia: 3 July 1969 Occupation: Factory Worker My village is small but very beautiful. It is situated next to a mountain and has a large valley. In the spring time we used to go to the mountain and admire […]
Mihno Mourtoulakis (b. 1927 Skepasto, Thessaloniki, Greece)
Date of birth: 23 March 1927 Place of birth: Skepasto, province of Thessaloniki, Macedonia Arrived in Australia: 7 October 1966 Occupation: Factory Worker I was born in the village of Skepasto, in the province of Thessaloniki. Our village is a very small village. It had about 150 houses then. It’s at the foot of the […]
Con Rontos (b. 1925, Skala, Italy)
Date of birth: 22 December 1925 Place of birth: Skala, Peloponnese Arrived in Australia: 17 February 1956 Occupation: Baker and Factory Worker I completed primary school in 1938. Our parents had no intention of sending us to secondary school, but neither did we, the children, want to go. We also had the odd idea that […]