Sicilian who became a professional boxer in New York
Anthony Sinatra had 30 fights as a professional boxer |
Usually known as Antonino, after emigrating to the United States he married Natalie
Garaventa, a girl from near Genoa who lived in his neighbourhood in New York
City. They set up home in New Jersey and
had a son, whom they christened Francis Albert, who would grow up to be better
known as Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular entertainers of all time.
Lercara Friddi today is a town of between 7,000 and 8,000 inhabitants, which at the time of Antonino’s birth was an important centre for the mining of sulphur. His father, Francesco, worked there as a shoemaker and married Rosa Saglimini. They
had seven children, although two of them were believed to have died during an
outbreak of cholera.
Early in Antonino’s life, Francesco decided to join the
growing number of Sicilians who believed their prospects of escaping a life of
poverty in their homeland were slim and after sailing to Naples boarded a ship
bound for New York.
Hoboken, New Jersey, where Frank Sinatra was born |
It was a tough life for the family at first but Lercara
Freddi was at the heart of Sicily’s Mafia country. Not far away were the towns
of Corleone and Prizzi, notorious Cosa Nostra strongholds. Francesco was happy
he had left that world behind and life improved when they saved enough money
for Rosa to open a small grocery store in Little Italy.
Antonino adopted the Americanised name of Anthony Martin
Sinatra. After reaching working age, he
initially followed his father’s trade as a shoemaker. Powerfully built, he was handy in a fight and
developed a second income as a prize fighter. He might have fought under the name of 'Tony the Shoemaker',which was the nickname he had among friends, but he chose to fight as Marty O’Brien,
passing himself off as Irish because Italians at the time were considered
inferior athletes.
Frank Sinatra (right) began his career with The Hoboken Four |
They lived in Monroe Street, Hoboken, in a largely Italian
neighbourhood, where Frank was born in 1915.
Anthony’s hopes of finding work as a merchant seaman were dashed because
he suffered from asthma but, encouraged by Natalie, he applied to become a
fireman and was taken on by the Hoboken Fire Department in 1927, eventually attaining
the rank of captain.
In time, Natalie followed the example of Anthony’s mother by
opening a shop, supplementing the family’s income so that they could afford a
bigger apartment. Eventually, her husband was able to retire from the fire
service and open a bar, which he called ‘Marty O’Brien’s.’
The name Lercara Friddi is thought to be derived in part
from the Arabia ‘al kara’ meaning quarter, and the Sicilian dialect word ‘friddi’
meaning cold. The 18th century church of San Giuseppe, the nearby
church of Santa Maria della Neve and the church of San Alfonso are attractive buildings. Apart from the
Sinatra family, the town was home to the anti-Fascist politician Andrea Aprile,
a leading figure in the Sicilian independence movement in the 1940s, and of the
Mafia gangster Lucky Luciano, who was controversially freed from prison in the
United States in order to help the Allied invasion in 1943.
Frank Sinatra’s mother, Natalie, came from Rossi, a frazione
of the village of Lumarzo in Liguria, about 15km (9 miles) inland, to the east
of Genoa. Since 2008, the village has organised an event, entitled "Hello,
Frank!", as a musical tribute from Ligurian artists and guests to the
actor and singer, who in the course of his career sold more than 150 million
records.
Salvatore 'Lucky' Luciano - crime boss recruited by Allies in Second World War
Joe Petrosino - policeman from Campania who fought for the good name of Italians in New York
Vito Antuofermo - farmer's son who conquered world in the boxing ring
1655: The birth of Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the piano
More reading:
Salvatore 'Lucky' Luciano - crime boss recruited by Allies in Second World War
Joe Petrosino - policeman from Campania who fought for the good name of Italians in New York
Vito Antuofermo - farmer's son who conquered world in the boxing ring
Also on this day:
1655: The birth of Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the piano
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