Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

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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120camden
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Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by 120camden »

Can anyone shed some light on why there were Italians in Buenos Aires? My grandmother was born there, but her parents were Belgian and Italian and came to the US in 1920 from France. So there were in Europe, then South American and back to Europe. We have many items that state she was born in Buenos Aires. Ellis Island records show them coming over from Paris, France.
Thanks.
erudita74
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by erudita74 »

This book may interest you-

Immigrants in the Lands of Promise:Italians in Buenos Aires and New York City, 1870 to 1914 by Samuel L. Bailey.
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by erudita74 »

One simple explanation is that the seasons in Argentina were reversed from those in Italy, and Argentina had an agricultural economy and jobs for unskilled laborers. So if it was winter in Italy, and the peasants could not find work there, they migrated to Argentina in search of work because it was summer there. Most of the individuals who initially emigrated to Argentina were males. Some were married and left wives and children behind in Italy, while they worked there. Others ended up permanently settling there and brought their families there to live.
jennabet
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by jennabet »

Many Italian immigrants ended up in Argentina because they did not qualify at the time for entry into the United States (meaning they knew no one in the US who could act as a sponsor). But many did make it to the US from Argentina at a later time.
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ItalianbellaSA
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by ItalianbellaSA »

I was told by my Mom that some of our ancestors from Sicily went to Argentina. Are there any sites that I can search by surname of those that left Sicily/Italy and settled there?
It is hoped that the research I am doing helps to discover, preserve and celebrate my family history.

Sue Antista
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by AngelaGrace56 »

ItalianbellaSA wrote:I was told by my Mom that some of our ancestors from Sicily went to Argentina. Are there any sites that I can search by surname of those that left Sicily/Italy and settled there?
You might find the following websites helpful in your search:

This website lists passengers to Argentina for the years 1882 to 1920. When I was using this site last year I ended up saving most of the lists because they took ages to download. If you experience the same, and you know exactly who you are looking for, let me know and I'll run a search. https://sites.google.com/site/barcosdeagnelli/Listado

I've also used the cemla site but the url I have linking to the passenger lists doesn't work now.
(i.e. http://www.cemla.com/busqueda.php# ) You could try them here though: http://cemla.com/buscador/

Apellido - surname
Nombre – Christian name
Desde – where from

Then there is this site which combines various websites. It is possibly still in the developmental stages, and may not cover the years you are wanting, but it is worth a try. It is very user friendly. http://www.ciseionline.it/KMS_Site/default.asp 

Angela
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by PeterTimber »

Have you located the relatives that immigrated from Sicily to Argentina that you were seeking? I happen to be fully conversant conversant in Spanish and, of course, Italian and the thought occurred to me that by either writing or calling relatives on the telephone may need some language assistance please do not hesitate to contact us here in the forum.
~Peter~
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by ItalianbellaSA »

Thank you so much for this information. I will look into it and be back with any questions. Again, I thank you for your time.
It is hoped that the research I am doing helps to discover, preserve and celebrate my family history.

Sue Antista
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by PeterTimber »

I did want to mention that the Argentina civil record system is very similar to the Italian model save for "REGISTRO CIVIL" which is for areas as opposed to Italy where records are maintained by Cities and towns of origin. Argentina requires Spanish and fees unlike Italy where documents are free. Peter
~Peter~
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Re: Italian relatives in 1890's in Argentina

Post by Anizio »

I find this sentence funny: Can anyone shed some light on why there were Italians in Buenos Aires?

Keep in mind most ethnic Italians today do not live in Italy: 56mil Italians in Italy, 140mil worldwide.

Argentina and Uruguay are 50% Italian or Italian mixed. So much so that it is said the dialect of Spanish spoken in Argentina is more easily understood in Naples than it is in Spain.

A lot of Italians went to Argentina, either to immigrate or to work seasonally. Its the same reason most Italians justified leaving: jobs. They wanted them, and other countries had them. Italians got paid very well for traveling for half a year to Argentina to work.
TIP: When asking for records from Italy, do NOT ask for an "estratto." ALWAYS ask for a "copia integrale." A photocopy of the original Act will contain more information
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