Casgliadau Arlein
Amgueddfa Cymru
Chwilio Uwch
Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Gennaro Autiero
Oral history recording with Gennaro Autiero who was born in Naples in 1931 and moved to Wales in 1956. Part 4 of 4 (AV 11342 - AV 11345). Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
00.28 Gennaro was part of a committee that would organise events, also meeting with the Italian consul, though organisation became difficult and it faded out. He describes the events that included Welsh people as well. When asked how he keeps Italian culture alive he says a phrase meaning that what’s in the heart comes out. His wife treats everyone well and she receives good treatment back, she talks with everyone. 06.10 They went back to Italy five years ago where his wife has family, yet they now have so much family here they couldn’t stay there. In Italy they called him English whereas in Wales he is called Italian and he feels very much Italian still, he thinks his wife might feel more half way. He compares the two countries- talking about the Italian political system. His children were born in Wales yet are still considered Italian, they understand Italian but don’t all speak it fluently. He talks about his family and teaching them the Italian culture. 13.50 The family eat Italian food which is now much easier to find. The Italian community in Wrexham would have worked mostly on farms, either having been, or knowing prisoners of war in Wales during the Second World War. Neither Gennaro nor his children speak Welsh fluently, he talks about his family and their attitude towards their national identity, saying that now they are integrated here and they could never move back to Italy.