and Pio Rebonato
MY MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS
Pio Rebonato – born Bovolone (Verona), Italy. 1883
Teresa Barbieri – born Ferrara, Italy. 1894
The Rebonato Family.
The Rebonatos come from Verona. In fact most of the Rebonatos in Italy come from the province of Verona or from towns nearby. It is not a very common name.
My grandfather (Pio) was born in the small Veronese village called Bovolone. He studied in both Desenzano on Lake Garda and then in Prague, in the then Austro-Hungarian Empire. He joined the Italian cavalry in around 1905, and was stationed in the royal palace of Caserta, near Naples.
He had a sister, Linda, and two brothers, Umberto and Giovanni (the latter we are not certain of the name). Linda married a landowner in Bovolone, called Maestrello. They had two grandchildren, called Lindina and Giovanna. The Bovolone family lived on a farm from an old convent of around about the 15th/16th century called “il canton”. The canton was still in the family up to 25 to 30 years ago. The Rebonatos were also related to Veronese nobility, with the Maffei family, who have their palace in central Verona, near the Arena. My great grandparents were also Veronese, Gaetano Rebonato and Teresa Perazzoli.
My grandfather left Italy in 1911 with his wife, our grandmother, Teresa Barbieri. They first went to Paris, where they opened a cafe. A year later they decided to continue their journey, and came to London, where they arrived just one month before my Auntie Tina was born, the oldest of 5 sisters. My grandfather was a designer of womens shoes.
The Barbieri family.
Barbieri is a fairly common name in Italy. There are Barbieris in most parts of the country. That is why we have to focus on our branch of the family which is the Barbieri-Gulinelli family from Ferrara.
My grandmother, and great grandparents were all from Ferrara, and so were, as far as we know, most of the earlier generations.
My great grandparents were, Giovanni Barbieri and Celestina Oriani daughter of the Count Gulinelli (the royal bloodline).
Through the Barbieris we are directly descended from the 17th century Ferrarese painter Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri). His paintings are to be found in the world’s leading galleries including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. He came from the village of Cento, in the Southern part of the Province of Ferrara. Guercino was his nickname because he had a squint.
The Gulinellis had their palace in central Ferrara, in the same road as the Palazzo Diamante. They also had a country house in the town of Portomaggiore, which is about 15 kms South of Ferrara.
My grandmother had two sisters, both born in Ferrara, like her, Maria and Leonella Zoe.
We mainly come from two lands with a great and interesting history, the Venetian Republic (Verona), the Estense Duchy (Ferrara).
Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was born in Milan on 15 September 1881 and at the age of 17 he joined as an apprentice the bicycle and tricycle manufacturing plant Prinetti & Stucchi, where he built his first engine-driven tricycle with two De Dion engines. In 1901, with the financial support of, then, Prince Gulinelli, he opened a small workshop for the production of sports cars. In the same year, at the Milan Motor Show Ettore showed a 4-cylinder “BUGATTI-GULINELLI” with an engine of 3054 cm3, which developed a speed of 65 km/h.
Gulinelli Palace
There is no certain information on the construction of Palazzo Gulinelli, but a map of the city from 1597 shows the building’s site similar to the present one. In 1844 the Palace was purchased by the lawyer Count Giacomo Gulinelli, and in 1863 his son Luigi completed the renovations. After World War II the Palace was home to the offices of the Police Headquarters, the Union Circle and many displaced families. In 1952-53 the Palazzo was sold by the Gulinellis to the Opera Pia Don Cipriano Canonici Mattei, which established the language high school there, active until 2010. Today, after careful restoration, it has become home to the Smiling Service International School.
Michel Bugatti, Countess Gulinelli, Thérèse Bugatti and Count Gulinelli unveiling a plaque at Palazzo Gulinelli, Ferrara
Chris – Mother – Dad – Grandparents (Mums side) – Small random selection of family pics.
