Italian/Albanian ancestry? We can help!
Please welcome Giuseppe Baffa to our team.Giuseppe has a degree in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage. He has published many papers and books on various issues related to Arbëresh culture and tradition, which he knows very well. In addition to being interested in Albanian culture, he is an arbëresh living in Santa Sofia d’Epiro, an Italian-Albanian community where they practice the Greek rite in religious functions, and still speak (after more than 600 years!) the Albanian language.
For many years he did research in the Province of Cosenza (Calabria) where he has worked as an archivist. Moreover he is a member of the Deputazione di storia patria per la Calabria, which is an association that promotes historical studies. His research interests are especially focused on genealogy, cultural anthropology, family history search and historical auxiliary sciences.
If you have Italian/Albanian heritage Giuseppe is the man to help you with your family history. He is also available to work on genealogy projects and dual citizenship searches in Calabria.
Giuseppe Baffa, my family’s surnames are Misischia and Moauro. Can you tell me if either could be Albanian origin?
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To be sure of the origin of a surname we should first study the evolution of that surname. Especially for the USA we know that surnames were often transformed when immigrants arrived.
“Mauro” is certainly an Italian surname. “Misischia” is present in central Italy. It could also be a transformation of the Albanian surname “Musacchia” or “Musacchio”, but to establish it we should first make a more accurate investigation.
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Dear Ann
After leaving a message to you on another page regarding my grandmother from the Isola di Ventotene, I now see that you have resources for Calabria so now I will ask about my great grandmother from Crotone. My great grandmother, Fortunata Paturzo, was born in Cotrone in 1863. The documents I have to hand are her birth certificate, my grandfather’s (Armando Paturzo) birth certificate of 1882, court documents for criminal proceedings against my great grandmother in 1890 at the criminal court of Reggio Calabria, and finally as witness to her son’s wedding in 1901 citing her as being resident in Naples. The purpose of the search would be to identify any siblings of my grandfather and the ancestors of my grandmother. I suspect that the Paturzos originated from Isola di Capo Rizzuto.
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This is a shot in the dark but I’ve really hit a brick wall regarding my ggrandmother, Delia Erada. At least that’s the name she got when arriving to NYC in 1885 at 15yrs old. She was described as fiercely Albanian but spoke Italian equally well. On various censuses she was born in Albania, Italy, Greece. ??? The few words my mother taught me, were indeed Albanian. I think she was Orthodox Roman Catholic. I’m now thinking she may have been from an Albanian community living in Italy because she learned Italian at school but spoke Albanian at home. I haven’t been able to find any links with her surname anywhere. Could there be an alternate spelling (phonetic) of the surname? Is it Albanian? Italian? Would it be more likely she emigrated from Italy or Albania? Just looking for one piece of info as I have nothing to go on now.
As a former history teacher, I have to say, Albanian history is so complex! I find very little that gives detail on the period 1871-1885 and what may have provoked a family to send their daughter, alone, to America. Any feedback, advice would be most welcome. Thank you!
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We can have our Albanian researcher take a look at this and perhaps give you some ideas. Please email us at Italysearch@gmail.com
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