The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

Mercedes, a store specializing in fine stationery and lithographic supplies. Their descendants include the fol-

lowing families: Svelti-Bardi, Svelti-Veloz, Svelti-Caminero, Svelti-Paulino, Svelti-Valerio, Ferraro-Svelti (es-

tablished in New York), Masturzi-Svelti, and Henríquez-Svelti, among others.

Antonio Masturzi Rutelli (1854 –?) a native of Avellino, Campania and the son of Angel Masturzi and

María Rutelli, he married María Visconti Guerrieri (1861–?) at the Cathedral of Santo Domingo on May 26,

1887.

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In that year, he owned a grocery store. His brother Miguel Masturzi Rutelli married Olimpia Mosca. This

Masturzi last name has essentially disappeared from the country due to the lack of male heirs and emigration.

The sons of Casimiro Felice Bolonotto Vallauri (1869–1951)

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and Maria Gioconda Lanteri Pastorel-

li (1877–1947),

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both natives of Morignole, La Brigue (Alpes-Maritimes, France) are Pietro Constantino

Bolonotto Lanteri (1903–1976) and Constantino Bolonotto Lanteri (1916–1990). Pietro arrived in Santo

Domingo on the SS Borinquen in 1931. He devoted himself to manufacturing sweets and candies. In 1943, he

resided at Calle Barahona No. 272 in Santo Domingo. He married French citizen Monique Marie Madeleine

Dumont. Constantino Bolonotto Lanteri arrived in Santo Domingo on September 11, 1946. He worked at Calle

Barahona No. 272 (at his brother Pietro’s candy store). He married El Seibo native Evangelista (Angélica) Vidal

Tejeda (1929–2005). They are the founders of the Dulcera Dominicana de Bolonotto Hermanos company.

The children of Pasquale Di Carlo and Maria Giuseppa Schiffino arrived in the Dominican Republic from

Santa Domenica Talao, Cosenza, Calabria. Silverio Di Carlo Di Carlo (1889–1966)

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married fellow Italian

Venerina Brisindi Miranda. In 1925 he established the Di Carlo jewelry store in San Pedro de Macorís at Calle

Sánchez No. 149. His brother Vicente Di Carlo Di Carlo (1894–1975) married Vicenzina María Luisa Alterio

Gesualdi. He had arrived in the Dominican Republic via Puerto Plata on June 9, 1909.

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Another Di Carlo is Giuseppe Antonio Di Carlo Schiffino, who married Puerto Rican María Casimira

Acevedo Rodríguez (1887–1967). He settled in Puerto Plata even though one of his children, José Antonio

Claudio Di Carlo Acevedo

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was born in Santiago de Cuba. There is no certain connection between these two

Di Carlo families. Their descendants are the Santana-Di Carlo, Di Carlo-Gómez, and Di Carlo-Palacio families.

Pasquale Prota Vita (1888–1973), a native of Morigerati, Salerno, Campania and the son of Demetrio Pro-

ta and Rachele Vita, married Fortuna Vita. They arrived in San Pedro de Macorís in 1908 where he founded the

La Diadema jewelry store. In 1910 he moved to Santo Domingo and founded the Prota jewelry store at Calle El

Conde. He also established Restaurante Roma on that same street in 1918 and the Olga jewelry store in 1944.

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Pietro Vincitore Steffano (1889–1967),

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son of Emanuele Vincitore Natalia Stefano, married María

Stella Giannone (1886–1966). Both were both natives of Ispica, Ragusa, Sicily. Pietro arrived in the Dominican

Republic on September 15, 1919. In 1942 he resided at Calle Luis A. Bermúdez in San Pedro de Macorís. His

son Manuel Vincitore Giannone,

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a native of Messina, Sicily, married Yolanda Margarita Prota Vita on

December 21, 1947. He was the director of the Dr. Marión Military Hospital in 1953, a lieutenant colonel in

the Dominican National Army in 1962, and the director of the Medical Corps and Military Health Unit. His

siblings include Natalia Palmira Adriana Vincitore Giannone (1914-2010), married to Carlos Eugenio Saladín

Vargas; Yolanda; and Pedro (1917–1953).

Eduardo Pío Cristóforis Blois (1877–1966), native of Calabria and son of Vicenzo Cristofori and María

Teresa Blois, married Azua native Caridad (Lalá) Fernández Soñé in 1902. He arrived via Puerto Plata in 1900,

and in 1951, he lived in the Batey Central de Ingenio Porvenir section of San Pedro de Macorís where he was

a chief engineer.

José Oliva Currari (1870–?) a native of Santa Domenica Talao, Cosenza, Calabria, married Elisa García

(1882–1967)

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in Santo Domingo on December 28, 1897. José Oliva was the founder of the Fire Department

of San Pedro de Macorís and also Chief of the Santo Domingo Fire Department in 1939 and 1947. He became

a naturalized Dominican citizen on May 7, 1935 (Decree No. 1278, Official Gazette No. 4796). Many families

are descended from him.

ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO SANTO DOMINGO