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Italian Dominicans

{{Short description|Dominicans citizens of Italian descent}}

{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Italian Dominicans

|native_name = {{native name|it|Italo-dominicani}}
{{native name|es|Ítalo-dominicanos}}

| image = Familia Rainieri.jpg

| caption = Dominicans of Italian descent, businessman Frank Rainieri with his family.

| population = {{Circa|50,000}} (by birth)

{{Circa|300,000}} (by ancestry, corresponding to about 3% of the total population)

| popplace = Boca Chica, Santiago de los Caballeros, La Romana and Santo Domingo{{Cite web |url=http://www.italiaestera.net/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=251 |title=Italia estera: Italiani nella Repubblica Dominicana nel 2002 (In Italian) |access-date=2023-03-24 |archive-date=2014-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822075504/http://www.italiaestera.net/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=251 |url-status=dead }}

| langs = Dominican Spanish{{·}}Italian and Italian dialects

| rels = Roman Catholic

| related_groups = Italians, Italian Americans, Italian Argentines, Italian Bolivians, Italian Brazilians, Italian Canadians, Italian Chileans, Italian Colombians, Italian Costa Ricans, Italian Cubans, Italian Ecuadorians, Italian Guatemalans, Italian Haitians, Italian Hondurans, Italian Mexicans, Italian Panamanians, Italian Paraguayans, Italian Peruvians, Italian Puerto Ricans, Italian Salvadorans, Italian Uruguayans, Italian Venezuelans

}}

Italian Dominicans ({{langx|it|italo-dominicani}}; {{langx|es|ítalo-dominicanos}}) are Dominican-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to the Dominican Republic during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in the Dominican Republic. The Italian community in the Dominican Republic, considering both people of Italian ancestry and Italian birth, is the largest in the Caribbean region.

History

There were a few hundred Italians who moved to live in "Santo Domingo" (as the Dominican Republic was then called), in the first centuries after the discovery of America in 1492. Most were religious, adventurers and traders.

File:Francisco Billini.jpg, President of the Dominican Republic in 1884–85, was an Italian Dominican with grandparents from Ravenna.]]

The turbulent years of Dominican independence even had a Dominican president whose ancestors came from Ravenna—Francisco Gregorio Billini. Indeed, Billini was president between 1884 and 1885, and gave his resignation early after refusing to limit the freedom of the press.{{cite web|url=https://notizieitalodominicane.net/francisco-gregorio-billini-un-presidente-come-pochi/|title=Francisco Gregorio Billini: un presidente come pochi|access-date=24 March 2023|language=it}}

At the end of the 19th century, the sugar industry produced much of wealth on the Caribbean island and attracted several hundred Italians who settled mainly in the capital Santo Domingo and its surroundings, such as La Romana.{{cite web|url=https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2021/12/10/la-romana-ecco-la-repubblica-dominicana-da-cartolina/6420170/|title=La Romana, ecco la Repubblica Dominicana da cartolina|access-date=24 March 2023|language=it}}

Italian Dominicans have left its mark on the history of the Caribbean country. The foundation of the oldest Dominican newspaper in 1889 was the work of an Italian, while the establishment of the Navy of the Dominican Republic was the work of the Genoese merchant Juan Bautista Cambiaso, né Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Cambiaso.{{cite web|url=https://www.museidigenova.it/it/la-presenza-italiana-santo-domingo-dalla-meta-dellottocento-ad-oggi|title=La presenza italiana a Santo Domingo dalla metà dell'Ottocento ad oggi|access-date=24 March 2023|language=it}} Finally, the design of the Palace of the President of the Dominican Republic, both aesthetically and structurally, was the work of an Italian engineer, Guido D'Alessandro.

In 2010, Dominicans of Italian descent numbered around 300,000 (corresponding to about 3% of the total population of the Dominican Republic), while Italian citizens residing in the Caribbean nation numbered around 50,000, mainly concentrated in Boca Chica, Santiago de los Caballeros, La Romana and in the capital Santo Domingo.{{cite web|url=https://notizieitalodominicane.net/italiani-nella-repubblica-dominicana-una-storia-di-successo-da-oltre-due-secoli/|title=Italiani nella Repubblica Dominicana: una storia di successo da oltre due secoli|access-date=24 March 2023|language=it}} The Italian community in the Dominican Republic, considering both people of Italian ancestry and Italian birth, is the largest in the Caribbean region.

Notable Italian Dominicans

File:Presidente Carlos Felipe Morales Languasco.jpg, President of the Dominican Republic in 1903-1905]]

File:MARCIO vELOZ mAGGIOLO.jpg]]

File:Freddy Ginebra.png]]

See also

References

{{Reflist|2}}

Bibliography

  • Favero, Luigi; Tassello, Graziano. Cent'anni di emigrazione italiana (1861 - 1961). CSER. Roma, 1981. (In Italian)

{{Ancestry and ethnicity in Dominican Republic}}

{{Italian diaspora}}

Category:Ethnic groups in the Dominican Republic

Category:European diaspora in the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

Dominicans