Antonio, Renata Cuccaro

In the winter of 1952, at 2:00 a.m., Antonio, Renata and their sons Tullio and Mauro boarded the ship Vulcania, destination, Canada. This is a glimpse of their immigrant story.

Antonio Cuccaro was born in Maddaloni in 1912. Renata Cavallotti was born in Milan in 1921. In June 1942, they were married in Fiume, Italy in the Province of Abbazia.

The couple settled in Fiume, Italy and their son Tullio was born there in February, 1945. It was wartime and a pregnant Renata was evacuated, just west of Fiume, to give birth. Tullio was born in the Hotel Villa Mascagni located on Kvarner Bay.

After the Second World War, the Istrian Peninsula was given to the Communists and Fiume became Rijeka, part of Croatia. One day, the Cuccaro family returned home to find that a Croatian family had moved into their apartment. This was an effort, on the part of the Croatian government, to displace the Italians. Consequently, when Tullio was 6 months old, the Cuccaro family decided to leave their home, and much of their belongings, and escape to Maddaloni and Antonio’s family home.

The family lived in Maddaloni for a short time until they moved to a company town just outside of Naples where Antonio got a management job in a plywood factory. In 1950, Mauro Cuccaro was born. When Tullio was about 6, the family decided to emigrate to Canada. They moved back to Maddaloni to be processed for emigration. Time was spent in a Displaced Persons Camp before departure.

The crossing of the Atlantic was very rough. Antonio slept below decks with the other men. The women and children were given the staterooms. Tullio would visit his father to get some relief from seasickness. The ship sailed into Halifax Harbour around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Tullio was on the second deck at the bow and began to sing the Italian National Anthem, “Fratelli d’Italia”.

There was much confusion when the passengers disembarked at Pier 21. Antonio, as one of the few men who were travelling onboard, helped many families find their way to the right trains to continue their own journeys.

Renata told the story that when they left Italy she was given some salami and provolone for the trip. When the family landed in Halifax, Antonio went off in search of some bread. When he returned with the white bread that was being distributed, Renata began to cry…they were certainly no longer in Italy!

The train to Ottawa was either too hot or too cold. Tullio and Mauro were enchanted by the Christmas lights and the snow. To this day, Christmas lights on his family’s home is still important to Tullio.

The family stayed in Ottawa for about 6 months. Tullio remembers arriving at his new school in Ottawa dressed in Italian clothes, including woolen tights! Eventually Antonio found jobs in his field and in 1960 he became the General Manager of a veneer finishing plant in Maniwaki, Quebec.

The family grew to include Vanda, born in 1961. All three of the Cuccaro children have flourished, achieving success in their professional lives. Antonio and Renata have left the family with a deep love of their home country. Their children and their families return to Italy often. Italian dishes, often made from Nonni’s recipes, grace family kitchens. The food not only nourishes the body but also celebrates a country that was left behind but never, ever forgotten.