Moor or Less

[MarcuccioV]

Does BFF = cumpare?

*Best forever friend* -- yes, Cumpare. We refer to one another as "Goomb", playing on the term. His middle brother is married to one of my first cousins...

[amerital43]

I searched for images of people from North Africa and was surprised they looked so European. Perhaps the "look" is from other parts of Africa.

Does anyone have any photos of Sicilian relatives with known North African ancestry which they are willing to post?

Northern African is basically Arabic. While there are Muslims/Arabs that have a more common "African look" i.e. those in the middle and south of the continent, most have a Levantine/East Asian, basic Arabic 'look'. For those whose family hails from Sicily, they shouldn't be surprised by this information. Yet, I often read on Italian Gen pages the surprise & shock! Also when they find Balkan/Greek/Turkish. People from Calabria should expect it too.

My Italian heritage doesn't have this mix, but on my other side I have it due to some Spanish heritage. I don't know exactly how far back it goes, but it seems to be 17thC, as per a chart I have at 23nMe. I was surprised. Not that I have it, but which side of the family it showed up on.

[amerital43]

These photographs might be of interest to you:

https://www.mariobadagliacca.com/moors_ ... 018-r10994

In the neighborhood I grew up in, girls that looked like the girl at the opening of the article, was commonplace. Whether she had 'Moorish' blood or not, we would've just thought of her as having beautiful, classic Italian features and complexion.