The Mystery of Saint Rita
As I mentioned in my last post my family tree is an odd one. And my dad's story starts a little farther back than his arrival in the U.S.
On July 20, 1984 my sister Georgette took down information from dad about his family history. The notes are sometimes contradictory but this is what I've pieced together.
His father Luis came from Trujillo and was a graduate of San Marcos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_University_of_San_Marcos). The notes indicate that his father's family may have originally been from Italy as his godfather was a man named Angelo Gatti, who was from Milan. Angelo would live with them in the summers, and dad's middle name, Angel, was a tribute to his godfather.
Luis married Tomasa Cordoba Villanes, who was born in Tarma. She had a younger brother named Eduardo Castellanos, maybe known as Jose, who was said to be a superintendent of schools in Tarma. Another note says he was in Cerro de Pasco in 1929 where he had a smelter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_de_Pasco). Both notations mention 2 shops -- a dry goods store and a drug store but not if they were in Tarma or Cerro de Pasco. This brother had a degree from San Marcos as well, so it's possible that this is how Luis and Tomasa met. This brother had a son and daughter but there is no information about them.
There's a note that Tomasa's parents or family were from "Jauja in Huacay." This seems to mean that they were from Jauja which is northwest of Huancayo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jauja) Dad spoke many times of having indigenous origins and the only photo I've seen of his mother would seem to corroborate that. If so, his mother's family may have been part of the Huanca people who lived in that area. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huanca_people)
Tomasa de Cordoba with dad's first wife in the 1920s
Luis enlisted and was a Captain in the Peruvian army during the war with Chile. This was part of the War of the Pacific, which took place from 1879 to 1883 "with Bolivia and Peru on one side and Chile on the other. The core issues were territorial claims and mining rights in the Atacama Desert; after the war ended with a Chilean victory, Chile gained a significant amount of land from Peru and Bolivia, making Bolivia a landlocked country." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Pacific)
After the war ended he would appear to have returned home and married given that his children were not born until the 1890s. However, he was active in politics. There's a note that he was part of the 'Pedroia group' though I have yet to find any reference to this particular alliance. The notes say he was a revolutionary with two other men in town but they were caught and he was imprisoned for several months. He was apparently denied water and was in a closet sized space, unable to lie down.
He was released to die when dad was 4 years old. His sister Alejandrina (Alica) was 2, his older brother Luis Amador was 6, and his oldest brother Luis Cesario was was 8. So this would appear to be around 1898. Luis was said to have sided with the Civilista party (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilista_Party). Given that this party's platform was anti-military due to its corruption it seems likely that he was imprisoned by the military.
Dad's father Luis was an architect, sculptor and painter. The only work we know of that has survived is the following painting that Georgette attributed to him. This is a painting of St. Rita and appears to be a copy of a better known painting. This may have been painted during the 1890s after the war although it's also possible it's work he did while in college (so either pre-1879 or post 1883). Dad remembers his father having his own space in the family home where he'd paint and do artwork.
The painting is done on wood and was framed some time ago given the look of the frame. What interests me about this choice of topic is that Saint Rita was canonized in 1900 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_of_Cascia). Canonization is always a very political effort. One of my aunts on my mother's side was the mother superior of Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, an order that worked very hard for decades to get Brazil's first saint canonized (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_of_the_Agonizing_Heart_of_Jesus). So I would assume that if Rita was canonized in 1900 there was probably a lot of activity surrounding these efforts in the prior decade, making her a potentially prominent religious figure in that period. Another thing that catches my attention is that "She has acquired the reputation, together with St. Jude, as a saint of impossible cases." I could see the attraction to someone so involved in a political struggle that he ended up giving his life for it.
I've done internet searches for images of her and found several examples of apparently identical paintings or very similar ones. However, I've yet to find information on what the original painting of those images is. Does anyone know?
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On July 20, 1984 my sister Georgette took down information from dad about his family history. The notes are sometimes contradictory but this is what I've pieced together.
His father Luis came from Trujillo and was a graduate of San Marcos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_University_of_San_Marcos). The notes indicate that his father's family may have originally been from Italy as his godfather was a man named Angelo Gatti, who was from Milan. Angelo would live with them in the summers, and dad's middle name, Angel, was a tribute to his godfather.
Luis married Tomasa Cordoba Villanes, who was born in Tarma. She had a younger brother named Eduardo Castellanos, maybe known as Jose, who was said to be a superintendent of schools in Tarma. Another note says he was in Cerro de Pasco in 1929 where he had a smelter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_de_Pasco). Both notations mention 2 shops -- a dry goods store and a drug store but not if they were in Tarma or Cerro de Pasco. This brother had a degree from San Marcos as well, so it's possible that this is how Luis and Tomasa met. This brother had a son and daughter but there is no information about them.
There's a note that Tomasa's parents or family were from "Jauja in Huacay." This seems to mean that they were from Jauja which is northwest of Huancayo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jauja) Dad spoke many times of having indigenous origins and the only photo I've seen of his mother would seem to corroborate that. If so, his mother's family may have been part of the Huanca people who lived in that area. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huanca_people)
Tomasa de Cordoba with dad's first wife in the 1920s
Luis enlisted and was a Captain in the Peruvian army during the war with Chile. This was part of the War of the Pacific, which took place from 1879 to 1883 "with Bolivia and Peru on one side and Chile on the other. The core issues were territorial claims and mining rights in the Atacama Desert; after the war ended with a Chilean victory, Chile gained a significant amount of land from Peru and Bolivia, making Bolivia a landlocked country." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Pacific)
After the war ended he would appear to have returned home and married given that his children were not born until the 1890s. However, he was active in politics. There's a note that he was part of the 'Pedroia group' though I have yet to find any reference to this particular alliance. The notes say he was a revolutionary with two other men in town but they were caught and he was imprisoned for several months. He was apparently denied water and was in a closet sized space, unable to lie down.
He was released to die when dad was 4 years old. His sister Alejandrina (Alica) was 2, his older brother Luis Amador was 6, and his oldest brother Luis Cesario was was 8. So this would appear to be around 1898. Luis was said to have sided with the Civilista party (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilista_Party). Given that this party's platform was anti-military due to its corruption it seems likely that he was imprisoned by the military.
Dad's father Luis was an architect, sculptor and painter. The only work we know of that has survived is the following painting that Georgette attributed to him. This is a painting of St. Rita and appears to be a copy of a better known painting. This may have been painted during the 1890s after the war although it's also possible it's work he did while in college (so either pre-1879 or post 1883). Dad remembers his father having his own space in the family home where he'd paint and do artwork.
The painting is done on wood and was framed some time ago given the look of the frame. What interests me about this choice of topic is that Saint Rita was canonized in 1900 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_of_Cascia). Canonization is always a very political effort. One of my aunts on my mother's side was the mother superior of Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, an order that worked very hard for decades to get Brazil's first saint canonized (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_of_the_Agonizing_Heart_of_Jesus). So I would assume that if Rita was canonized in 1900 there was probably a lot of activity surrounding these efforts in the prior decade, making her a potentially prominent religious figure in that period. Another thing that catches my attention is that "She has acquired the reputation, together with St. Jude, as a saint of impossible cases." I could see the attraction to someone so involved in a political struggle that he ended up giving his life for it.
I've done internet searches for images of her and found several examples of apparently identical paintings or very similar ones. However, I've yet to find information on what the original painting of those images is. Does anyone know?
Comments at Dreamwidth