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Micheli Scalisi
One-hundred four years and 6,000 miles: These are the numbers involved in this story of Grant Scalisi, who came to Sicily from the US in order to improve his Sicilian speaking abilities and to discover his family’s origins.
Grant’s story (Micheli is his middle-name) is a story that has caught everyone’s attention, people from Sambuca, people not from Sambuca, newspapers and university professors.
It all began a couple of years ago when the young six foot five inch tall basketball player discovered his Sicilian origins. Since then his search has become never-ending. Grant was born in Brush, Colorado, to Daniel Scalise (originally Scalisi) and to Libby Wolf, a Danish-American. He often vacationed with his 80 year old grandparents in Rockford, Illinois, where they moved from Louisiana, the first state in which Grant’s great-grandparents lived.
It is in Rockford where Grant realized his Sicilian origins and there where he began his search, anxious to know more about these origins. Micheli investigated, questioned his grandparents and looked for information among the few documents kept in his family. With the information he uncovered he began to construct a family tree and discovered that his origins traced back to a small town named Sambuca Zabut (written thus in the emigration documents).
The young “Gulliver” wouldn’t give up, nor would he surrender in the face of any obstacle and at the age of 17 he began to plan a trip to Sicily. He meanwhile was hoping that someone from Sambuca’s community living in Rockford would be able to help him. Grant then learned that in Sicily Sicilian is spoken apart from Italian and also realized that Sicilian was the language passed down to his grandparents from their parents and so he decided to learn Sicilian in order to feel closer to his grandparents.
He was very motivated to learn, using an English-Sicilian dictionary, printed in the 1980s by a man from Siracusa and an old book published in 1933 by the Catholic University of America at Chicago. Micheli began to study Sicilian, the language of Rosalia Abbate and Carlo Scalisi, the great-grandparents of the young-man from the States who was very proud to be Sicilian, “Sicilian by blood” as he’s said many times. Rosalia left for America with her parents, Calogero and Paola (Bullai) in 1900 when she was ten years old. They landed at Louisiana on the 18th of October. Ironic enough, just four days later, Carlo Scalisi arrived at the exact same port when he was 13 years old. It was here, in New Orleans, where Carlo worked as a builder of roads and railways along side of many other Sicilian emigrants. It was a difficult life, full of sacrifices and hopes to return one day to their homeland. Carlo and Rosalia eventually in 1912 were wed.
But with time this hope of returning to Sicily vanished into the silence. A silence which lasted 104 years until Micheli resurrected their hope and left for Sambuca where he arrived the 4th of May.
By now he speaks Sicilian well and writes it even better. He speaks it well enough that he now “corrects” us native speakers. Micheli proudly hands out his business cards with a picture of the Trinacria and the text written in Sicilian. His shirt, as seen in the picture, carries the Sicilian crest along with his hat.
Two years earlier, the young American…I mean…sambucese, sent an e-mail plea saying “…help me discover my origins.” those from Sambuca. He also wrote “…I’m looking for a girl from Sambuca to get married to.” And thus he received a response from a woman from Sambuca: Rosemary Curti, a woman living in Rockford for almost 30 years. She received his plea and then relayed it to Sambuca, to her friends Francesca and Vito Montalbano, who, hearing his plea, were unable to refuse it, maybe because Francesca has personally experienced “emigration”. They decided to take Micheli in. Another friend was involved, Gene Fedeli of Rockford, who really made it all happen for Micheli. Arriving in Sambuca, Micheli carried out a two-year dream cultivated for a life-time; not only his life-time, but also that of three generations.
Micheli has been seen many times walking through the streets of Sambuca, with his almost frightening size, and seated among the older men out on the sidewalks in front of the social clubs. He’s been seen entering the alleyways and side streets looking for friends and/or relatives of his great-grandmother Rosalia.
He was seen taking a picture of “Vicolo Abate” (Abate St.) hoping that on this street his great-grandmother was born. The Abate/Abbate families were contacted but their family names didn’t match. The search really wasn’t easy. After several attempts, (that cross/meet fleeting stories of the 82 year-old grandfather Carlo informed by the state of researches with the dates recovered in the communal archive, if he is on the right path.) He located Rosalia’s family who was separated from her in 1900 when she crossed the ocean.
Now with document in hand it is much easier to understand that between Micheli and the progenitor Abbate there are six generations and about 150 years.
The first meeting with the family of Calogero Oddo (son of Abbate) was, to say the least, a big party. The family includes Calogero’s wife, daughters and sons, and their husbands/wives and children. From there it’s much easier to meet other relatives and to add on to his family tree. Micheli was able to add to his tree Giorgio Arbisi, whose grandmother was first cousins with Rosalia. He also added Nino Marino, another nostalgic “sammucaru” (sambucese) and a descendent of another of Rosalia’s first cousins. Yet another addition is Vincenzino Franco, son of an Abbate and cousin to Rosalia.
Micheli’s searches now find themselves in Bisacquino where they’re taken over by Nino Prezioso, who proved to be an exceptional help. Here in Bisacquino Micheli explores the masculine side of the family which carries the last name. The initial difficulties come to a happy ending when Micheli verified his grandfather’s stories of aunts and uncles who remained in Bisacquino.
The last survivor, who carried his same name Micheli, died in 1992 without children. “Mastru Micheli lu cuccurugnanu” (mastru, a title given to someone with a trade; cuccurugnanu, Micheli’s nickname possibly dealing with his trade as a clock-maker) was very well-known in town, because he repaired clocks.
Salvatore, another brother of his great-grandfather died in 1917 in WWI. Reading this news noted in the margine of his death certificate at town hall, Micheli didn’t hide his tears and was proud to have an ancestor who gave his life for Italy, the same nation he thinks of as his “patria” (homeland).
During his stay in Sambuca, Micheli never became tired of writing down the new words he learned that aren’t found in the dictionary of the Siracusan Mr. Bellestri. Micheli asks for his “bunaca” (an old word for “jacket”) when he’s cold and he greets without timidity saying “assa binidica” (an old phrase asking an older person for a blessing) and was glad when somebody finally understood him.
Micheli’s story became a great account for the city of Sambuca and for anyone looking to discover their Sicilian origins. The two major daily newspapers of the island (Sicily) now speak of our “sambucese” and the president of the Art department at the University of Palermo became curious once he met Micheli.
Professor Ruffino supports Micheli and applaudes his boldness, inviting him to take a Sicilian philology class at the university.
Michele Guardi’ also heard about Micheli and in the future would like him to appear on his TV station. But Micheli’s plan for his life is even more ambitious.
Not only does he want to get his Italian Citizenship but he wants to find a good Sicilian girl from Sambuca with whom to marry: Micheli will never give up. He had already written it on the internet in November 2002! |
