Italian Peruvian

Italian Peruvian
	95px95px
	Notable Italian Peruvians; Francisco Bolognesi; Antonio Raimondi ; 22x20px
Total population
	600,000 (close or partial ancestry)[1]
Regions with significant populations
	Lima, Lambayeque, Arequipa, Callao (La Punta District), Tacna, Trujillo, Ica
Languages
	Spanish, Italian
Religion
	Roman Catholic

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An Italian Peruvian is a Peruvian citizen of Italian descent. The phrase may refer to someone born in Peru of Italian descent or to someone who has immigrated to Peru from Italy. Among European Peruvians, Italians were the second largest group of immigrants to settle in the country.

History

Between years 1532 and 1560, 50 italians established in Lima (Viceroyalty of Peru) and Callao, mostly from Liguria and Tuscany, such as Martin from Florence, Pietro Catagno, Pietro Martín from Sicily (all of them involved in Atahualpa's capture), Juan Bautista Pastene, born in Genoa in 1505 and also present since the beginning of the Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire. It’s worthy to say that, in 1584, the first printing press was brought to the Viceroyalty of Peru by an italian named Antonio Ricciardi Pedemontanus.

Radicati di Primeglio has done an exhaustive research about italians in Lima and he found the well-documented existence of 343 italians in Lima between years 1532 and 1650 (this number can vary because many italians were not registered). From these 343 italians: 124 were from Genoa, 28 from Venice, 28 from Corsica, 15 from Naples, 11 from Milan, 10 from Rome, 5 from Sicily and the rest from other italian states. Italians from Genoa used to work in the transport of passengers and merchandises between Callao and other Viceroyalty harbors to Panama. We can mention to Captains Giustiniani y Vicenzo Pascuale, who founded many navigation and trade enterprises between Callao and Valparaiso; Giovanni di Malta, Nicolo da Bonifilio, Alvaro Pastrello, Giovanni Gaetano; Enrique Porri from Milan, Lucas de Astra from Genoa; Nicoroso y Marcos Corso, captain Alessandro Malaspina.

There were also marines from Venice and from the Aegean Islands, like Pedro from Heraklion and Francisco from Cyprus (these places were under the venetian dominion from 1204 to 1669); Anello Oliva, Ludovico Bertonio, Francesco Carletti, and the Prince of Santo Buono and Viceroy of Peru; Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo, born in Naples and Dr. Federico Bottoni who published a treaty about sanguineous circulation, in 1723.

During the last decades of spanish dominion in Perú, the number of italians in Peru grew faster than in previous centuries (most of them came from Genoa). The richest ones were related to the marine commerce while the rest of italians worked at small family-run business (such as grocery stores) or in larger enterprises along with their fellow Italians, as they were relatively skilled.

File:Chucuito callao.jpg

While most italians settled in the main cities, a group of sicilian and genovese fishers established in Chucuito, Callao

The pioneers of the italian immigration to Peru were Antonio Dagnino, who established in Callao in 1802 and Felix Valega, who arrived, in 1806. The same ship brought to the musician Andrea Bolognesi, father of the Peruvian National Hero "Francisco Bolognesi".

The first wave of italian immigration to Peru occurred during the period 1840-1880 (the "Guano" Era): not less than 15,000 italians arrived to Peru during this period (without counting the non-registered italians) and established mainly in the coastal cities, especially, in Lima and Callao. They came, mostly, from the northern states (Liguria, Piedmont, Tuscany and Lombardy). Giuseppe Garibaldi arrived to Peru in 1851, as well as other italians who participated in the Milan rebellion like Giuseppe Eboli, Steban Siccoli, Antonio Raimondi, Arrigoni, etc.

In 1872, the Sociedad de Inmigración Europea ("European Immigration Society") was founded in Peru. Its objective was promoting Old World immigration by covering the costs of their journeys and financially supporting them during their first settler years in Peru.

A massive influx was expected, however, during these new waves of italian immigration, approximately, 47,000 italians arrived to Peru, mostly from Liguria, Lombardy, Campania, Calabria and Sicily. After this period, the number of arrivals from Italy decreased until the beginning of the World War II.

Many Italian Peruvians intermarried and many Italian Peruvian families are related. Most Italian Peruvians live in the metropolitan area of Lima and the coastal cities. The peruvian cuisine has been largely influenced by the italian cuisine.