I am so fortunate to have a couple days off, so I am taking full advantage by adding to my "Family History" series. I was going to write about my Great Grandfather Carlo and the origin of my Grandfather's nickname "Dontino", but that is going to have to wait until next time. Today, I want to share the fascinating story of my Great Grandmother Giovanna Gullo. This is my grandfather Vincenzo's mother.
I don't remember much about my great grandmother. I was about 1 year old when she died, so all I know about her comes from pictures and stories from my parents and great grandparents. I know that she was a loving woman dedicated to her family, strong of character (3 of her 12 children died tragically in their youth), and always had a positive nature. I've heard often of her love and dedication to my my great grandfather Carlo. I've heard that she often commented that if my great grandfather hadn't been crippled fairly young (he had a stroke in his 50s), they would have had 12 more children!
That said, here is the fascinating part of my great grandmother's story. Her name, as I stated above was Giovanna Gullo, and she was also known by the nickname "'A Calabrese" because her dad was from Calabria. Her parents were Gennaro Vilella and Nunziata Gullo. So note, her last name was different than her father's last name. Here is where the story gets good.
Gennaro Vilella was a very well to do property owner in Calabria. He had a rather large estate and livestock, etc. He walked into his house one evening after being away for some days and found his wife in bed with a another man. In a moment of passion, he killed both his wife and her lover. Knowing that he would be arrested for his actions, he went into hiding and escaped to Sicily. He left behind all of his wealth and property. Keep in mind, this was late 1800s in Sicily. With no modern equipment it would have made a great place to hide.
While in hiding he met Nunziata Gullo, and they had Giovanna. They were not able to officially marry because of the circumstances. Giovanna went on and married my great Grandfather Carlo (the first Maltempi) and they had 12 children.
More to come as I get time, next we'll focus on the Maltempi side. But for now, I just can't get over what an unbelievable story this is.
