2. LAST NAME
Tuscanian last names often end in "ini“ and
both Giovacchini and Allegrini end in INI.
The last name Giovacchini is Italian and is
from the personal name Giovacchino. (The
Italian form of the biblical name Joachim)
3. MY ITALIAN HISTORY
The Giovacchini is deeply Tuscanian, They
are form the hills around Firenze
The Allegrini are also deeply
Tuscanian, precisely from Pisa and Lucca.
When the family left Italy they went to South
America, North America and some Scottish
highlands.
4. Tuscanians have a deep sense of
their own belfry or the belfry of their
village or town more than anywhere
else, their identity lies around it.
This reflect the partisan and
conflictual history of the region.
The Allegrini (from Pisa) feel to be
very different from the Giovacchini
(from Firenze), as Pisa and Firenze fought
each other for centuries. But they joined when
my grandparent married.
5. The ancient divides of Tuscany were reflected
also into the divisions of World War II. The
Giovacchini split in two groups: those who
fought the Fascists and the Germans with
partisans brigades, my grandfather and his
cousin Sergio, and those who joined the
Fascists, my great-grandfather and my great-
uncle Piero. My great-grandfather died during
the battle preceding the liberation of Florence in
1943, and my great-uncle Piero was shot a year
later in 1944.
6. The founder of the Allegrini wealth is
Giovanni Allegrini ”The Great”(1860-1950). He
was an adventurer who travelled and built
roads across Colombia, Bolivia and probably
Peru. I might have a few relatives there, although
not officially. He invested his money in the movie
industry (a tradition my uncle Saverio took
up, somehow) and in an optic workshop and
shop. He was so rich, that even the king once
borrowed from him some money to buy a camera
(the king, Vittorio Emanuele diSavoia, gave the
7. ALLEGRINI FAMILY CREST
This crest originated in
Florence, Italy. The
flowers on the crest do
not represent the fleur-
de-lis from France. But
it represents the lily (il
giglio) that is the symbol
of Florence. It is a
symbol for the
Florentines probably
borrowed from France,
but is considered their
own.
