Russo, Bartolomeo - Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Russo, Bartolomeo - Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Category: Other
| Title | Russo, Bartolomeo - Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Author | Jocelyn Chisholm |
| Year | 1996 |
| Publication | Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, first published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography in 1996 |
| Language | English |
| Geographic reference | Wellington, Waikato, D'Urville Island, Eastbourne, Otorohanga, Te Awamutu, Stromboli, |
| Time reference | 1860s to 1940s |
| Online resource | YES |
| Topic | Italian fishermen, Italian farmers, Italian growers, Italian horticulturists, Sicilians in New Zealand, |
A short biography, written by Jocelyn Chisholm and first published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography in 1996. Bartolomeo Russo (1866/7–1941) was a notable New Zealand fisherman, horticulturist and farmer. He was born in Stromboli probably in 1866 or 1867. He was the eldest son of eight children of Domenico Russo, a farmer, and his wife, Giuseppina Costelano. His island childhood strongly influenced Bartolo who went to sea at an early age. Shipwrecked on a voyage to India, he was rescued and offered a passage home, but he continued at sea and arrived in New Zealand in 1881, aged 14 years. A brother, Gaetano, followed in 1891 and the youngest in the family, Domenico, in 1897 or 1898. This chain migration of an Italian family to New Zealand is one of the earliest recorded. In 1890 Russo married Italia, the 18-year-old daughter of Italian settlers Cesare Pierotti, a fisherman, and Louisa Bartelotti, in Wellington. The biography describes Russo's family (his brother Domenico and sons Dominic, Cesare and Angelo were prominent pioneer dairy farmers and settlers in Waikato) and business life, until his suicide in 1941.
Image: A.B. Hurst & Son (Firm). Hurst, A B & Son :Photograph of Bartolomeo Russo and family. Ref: 1/2-199171-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand /records/23236367
