The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

Alfonse Cáffaro settled in San Pedro de Macorís. He married Puerto Rican Rufina Samuel. One child

was Alfonso Nicolás Cáffaro Samuel (1907–?). Alfonso Nicolás married Lourdes Violeta Durán Ponce de

León (1914–2010), a native of San Pedro de Macorís. They were the parents of Erasmo Alfonso (Niní) Cáffaro

Durán, a famous singer and businessman.

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Giuseppe Perrotta Benedetto (1886–1953),

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a native of Cosenza, Calabria and son of Antonio Perrotta

and María Benedetto, arrived via Puerto Plata in September 1895. He married fellow compatriot María Gen-

erosa Miraglia Zaccara. He settled in Puerto Plata before moving to Santo Domingo. He was a 33

Degree

Freemason, and was initiated at the Masonic Lodge of Puerto Plata. He was the progenitor of a large and

prestigious family from Santo Domingo, among which include Lieutenant Colonel Juan Antonio Perrotta

Miraglia, assistant to the President of the Dominican Republic in 1943 and 1946.

Giovanni Brisindi (1872–?) and Angela Miranda (1875–?)

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were both natives of Cosenza, Calabria. Their

children were Venerina Brisindi Miranda, married to her countryman Silverio Di Carlo Schiffino; Angelina

Brisindi Miranda, who married Lazzaro Gervasi Fiscina

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in Santo Domingo on January 1, 1950; and Antoni-

no Brisindi Miranda,

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who married Sebastiana Gennaro Miranda

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in Santo Domingo on October 14, 1950.

In 1958 Antonino Brisindi was the owner of the Sublime pizzeria and gelateria located at Calle El Conde No.

29 of Santo Domingo. His gelato was made with Pernigotti cream imported from Italy.

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Annibale Bonarelli Izzo (1922–2002)

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a native of Naples, Campania and son of Vicenzo Bonarelli, mar-

ried townswoman Immacolata Pascale Landi (1924–2014), and he arrived in Santo Domingo from New York

in May of 1953. He established the El Vesuvio (Vesubio in Spanish) restaurant and pizzeria on January 21,

1954, at Ave. George Washington No. 145. It was a famous locale, frequented by international celebrities for

more than 60 years. He was decorated by the Italian Government with the Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della

Repubblica Italiana award on January 13, 1972 (Order No. 108993 s. 1) by Italian President Giovanni Leone.

He was also decorated with the Cavaliere Ufficiale award on June 18, 1998 (Order No. 27759 S. IV) by Italian

President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. In the Dominican Republic, he was awarded the Timón de Oro Tourism

award in March of 1983. The children and grandchildren of Annibale and Inmacolata Bonarelli maintain the

tradition of great pizzas with the Pizzarelli restaurant chain along with fine wine from El Catador.

In 1959, the gelateria and pizzeria named Sorrento

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owned by Angelo Grosso was established in front

of Parque Independencia in Santo Domingo. There is no information about his family relatives and descend-

ants in the Dominican Republic.

Guido D’Alessandro Lombardi (1895–1954), a native of Bovino, Foggia, Apulia, was a mechanical engi-

neer who graduated from Politecnico di Torino

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in 1927. He designed and built the National Palace (1944–

1947) and many other public works. He was the son of Luigi D’Alessandro Lucarelli (1865–1958)

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and Emil-

ia Lombardi. He married Carmen Isabel Tavárez Mayer,

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a native of Montecristi, in her hometown on April

26, 1930. She was the daughter of the senator and governor Isabel Mayer Rodríguez. One of his brothers was

Armando D’Alessandro Lombardi who died in Milan on October 21, 1959.

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His sons Armando José D’Ales-

sandro Tavárez (1929–2009) and Guido Emilio (Yuyo) D’Alessandro Tavárez (1932–2011) were prominent

politicians, diplomats and businessmen.

Cesare Augusto Rimoli Caffaro (1903–?) a native of Potenza, Basilicata and son of Giuseppe Rimoli

and Marietta Caffaro,

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arrived in the country via Puerto de Sánchez, Samaná, in 1921. He married Moca

native Ana Silvia (Nena) Villavizar Bello (1916–2005) in Santo Domingo on October 29, 1944.

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His brother

Humberto Rimoli Caffaro married Santo Domingo native Fiordalisa Martínez Félix. This family later settled

in Brazil where another brother Francisco Rimoli, who was a lieutenant in the Brazilian Army in 1941, ulti-

mately remained there.

ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO SANTO DOMINGO