The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Amadeo Barletta Barletta was consul of Italy in Santo Domingo, a successful merchant and industrialist,

and a representative and shareholder of General Motors.

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He fled to Cuba during the Trujillo dictatorship;

there he built a flourishing business. He married Nelia Ricart Castillo, daughter of Alejandro T. Ricart and

Delia Castillo, at the Cathedral of Santo Domingo on April 17, 1920.

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He was the founder of Santo Domingo

Motors, distributor for General Motors in the Dominican Republic.

Antonio Barletta Barletta, brother of Amadeo, arrived in the country via the port of Santo Domingo

on June 14, 1920. In 1940 he lived on Calle César Nicolás Penson; later, in 1949, he lived at Ave. Bolívar at

the corner of Calle José Contreras. He was president of the Dominican Soap Co. in 1939. On April 8, 1942, he

married María Altagracia (Mayú) Rainieri Franceschini, daughter of hotelier Isidoro Rainieri Carrara, whose

family will be discussed in the section about Italian immigrants in El Cibao.

Bruno Palamara,

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native of San Nicola, Arcella, Cosenza, Calabria, arrived in the Dominican Republic

with his wife Angélica Margarita and his son Battesimo Bruno Palamara Margarita (May 16, 1902 –?) in

December 1908. The latter was married in Santo Domingo to Celeste Aída Mieses Vicioso, a Santo Domingo

native, on December 23, 1923. Battesimo headed the Italian Fascist Party in the Dominican Republic. He was

a merchant and he resided at Av. Bolívar No. 68 in Santo Domingo with telephone No. 1290. The descendants

of this family own the Pala-Pizza chain of pizzerias.

Francisco Svelti traveled from Florence, Tuscany, to Santo Domingo in 1889 with his wife Palmira

Bardi Visconti. One of his children, Francisco Svelti Bardi (1904–1983),

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founded Casa Svelti at Calle Las

1925, Amadeo

Barletta, Santo

Domingo.