Question for people of Italy?

As a nation state, Italy has emerged only in 1871. Until then the country was politically divided into a large number of independant cities, provinces and islands. The currently available evidences point out to a dominant Etruscan, Greek and Roman cultural influence on today's Italians.
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PepinoMattioli
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Question for people of Italy?

Post by PepinoMattioli »

Ok so it turns out that where my family is from is in the small village Panni, Foggia. From the websites Ive found it is full of only 1000 people. And the sites say that three of the main surnames in my family ( Senerchia, Rainone, and Roberto ) all have 5 or more address each in the town and that these names probably existed since the town formed. So im guessing that in a town of 1000 a big part of it has to be family somewhat.

Would it be rude, to people of Italian culture if I wrote a random letter to some of these people asking if they knew of any family or town history. Should I write in Italian or English, in a town this small would a lot of peopel speak english? any suggestion?

Also does anyone know of any websites that give info on Panni Foggia that are in english. Every site i find is in Italian and my Italian isnt at its best to read a site these days.

Joe
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suanj
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by suanj »

PepinoMattioli wrote:Ok so it turns out that where my family is from is in the small village Panni, Foggia. From the websites Ive found it is full of only 1000 people. And the sites say that three of the main surnames in my family ( Senerchia, Rainone, and Roberto ) all have 5 or more address each in the town and that these names probably existed since the town formed. So im guessing that in a town of 1000 a big part of it has to be family somewhat.

Would it be rude, to people of Italian culture if I wrote a random letter to some of these people asking if they knew of any family or town history. Should I write in Italian or English, in a town this small would a lot of peopel speak english? any suggestion?

Also does anyone know of any websites that give info on Panni Foggia that are in english. Every site i find is in Italian and my Italian isnt at its best to read a site these days.

Joe
Hi: italian new generations speak english...but are better you send an letter in italian language! Sure they read...regards, suanj
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ptimber
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by ptimber »

If you wish to write a letter to a prospective relative then go to www.anzwers.org/free/italiangen/saviello2.html. If you wish to locate Panni on the Map then go to www.mappy.com. If you want to locate osmehting in english ten try wsww.abcitaly.com/indexing.html. Have fun. Peter
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ptimber
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by ptimber »

You can also go to www.tiscali.it and insert Panni. peter
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by DeliBoy »

Joe,

Send me an e-mail address and I'll give you a couple of photos I took in Panni a couple of years ago.

I should be going back at the end of August, 26/27 August being the feast of San Costanzo when Panni always have the best music in the area. If you want any particular photos taken, let me know and I'll do my best.
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by ptimber »

Dear Joe in the meantime there is a website for Panni that is of interest to you. Go to www. Tiscaliu.it and then click item#6 for a closeup of Panni with fotos and other data of interest. Peter
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by ptimber »

P.S. Also try #5 for more perspective on Panni. Even if you fdo not know Italian you can certainly pick out what you want. Peter
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PepinoMattioli
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by PepinoMattioli »

Deli boy I just sent a Private Message but heres my email in case you see this first. dirtyjerztek@aol.com
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raymo
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Re: Question for people of Italy?

Post by raymo »

Aside from the very good suggestions already mentioned in this post, I would very much recommend using paginebianche.it, to get the surnames & addresses that would be of interest to you in Panni, then write a simple letter in Italian, explaining who you are, who your ancestors from the town were & ask if those you wrote to are in some way related to you & your ancestors. Include your email address in the letter, as well as your physical address.

I did this myself in my research on my own family, from Acerra, NA, and within 5 days of sending the letters, I received emails from actual, direct relatives. I just returned from visiting them, and it was WONDERFUL ! I hope you have the same good fortune I had...
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