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Francesco Angilletta & Domenica Fuda

Angilletta - Fuda
[Provincia di Reggio Calabria]

Francesco "Bruno" Angilletta, son of Rocco and Maria Andrianò of Ardore, and Domenica Caterina Fuda, daughter of Nicodemo and Angela Ferraro of Locri were my Paternal Grandparents...

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My Mom

Salvati-Polito
[Provincia di Cosenza]

Ernesto Salvati, son of Emilio Francesco of Malito, and Francesca Raffaella Napolitano of San Fili, and Erminia Polito, daughter of Giovanni of Belsito, and Vincenza Macchione of Malito were my maternal grandparents...

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Carole Bienati

The Alpine Settler

Carole Bienati 1941-2010

In Loving Memory of Carole W. Whiddett Bienati, a retired widow who left England to move to her beloved Lake Como Italy.

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Giuseppe Angilletta

Calabria Exchange


Reggio Calabria View

For images of actual vital records of comuni in Reggio Calabria, visit the Calabria Exchange.

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Gente di Mare Italian Genealogy

where genealogy begins...

Welcome to Gente. Hope you like the new look and feel of the site. The original purpose of this site was to create a link between my personal family files and the better known Gente Di Mare Genealogy Forum. Since that time, Carole and I found that the site would be better suited to linking the forum and new Gente Blog together to help those researching their Italian roots. Unfortunately Carole passed away last August 2010 and so was unable to see the finished result but I think she would be pleased.

Feel free to contact me and let me know what you think of the new look. I'd also like to hear any suggestions about how we can make it better.

beginning your research...

The best way to begin your research is to start at the end. What this means is start with yourself and work backwards using what you know and a family group or ancestral chart. Fill in as much as you can. At this point verification is not an issue. You just want to write everything you can down.

The next thing you want to do is make some phone calls or visit with family. Some will be more helpful than others so don't get discouraged. I found my mother to be the best person to ask in my family. I spent an afternoon with her looking thorough old photos and documents and just talking. Keep it fairly informal and ask open ended questions. Whenever possible make photocopies or scan everything. If you borrow something make sure to return it. Look for memory cards of family who had passed away which might fill in missing information or hold additional clues. Many people often went by their middle names or "sopranome" (nickname). Maria often preceded the name the person was known as. Look for unique naming patterns. In one branch of my family four children and their mother all used the name Maria followed by Rosa, Concetta, Antonia and Catarina.

choosing a genealogy software program...

The next step would be to choose a proper genealogy program that is within your price range and download it to your computer. I don't recommend using Excel for this as it just doesn't offer you the same flexibility or purpose as a genealogy program. I use two - Family Tree Maker and PAF. For a full list of genealogy programs available online you can look at Cyndi's List.

Please be patient as we are updating the site so some links may not yet be active. next page »