Quaranta
Encyclopedia
The first evidence of this family's existence in America is verified by the "Italians in America", which notes that Salvatore and Commaso Quaranta arrived at New York City's Ellis Island on December 14, 1880 aboard the "Italia", which sailed from Marseilles, Naples, and Palermo. There is a possibility, however, that the name Quaranta could have been introduced in America at an earlier date.
History
The Founder of the Quaranta family was a medieval Norman knight who returned from the CrusadesCrusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
in the 11th century during the government of Guaimar IV of Salerno
Guaimar IV of Salerno
Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno , Duke of Amalfi , Duke of Gaeta , and Prince of Capua in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the final phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno and the commencement of Norman power...
. He led forty pilgrims from the Holy Land and dislodged the Saracens (Muslims) from the sieged city Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
. Therefore he was nicknamed “dei Quaranta” (of the forty). For such merit Knight Quaranta was rewarded with an immense property between Salerno and Cava de'Tirreni, where the family settled and where the family established the Church of the SS Quaranta Martiri (the holy Forty Martyrs), what made the family the most prestigious family in the region. On their property, in the Norman era, the tremendous Quaranta palace was built.
With the arrival of the Angioina dynasty several members of the family moved to Naples where they became eminent members of The Neapolitan parliament, as representatives of the city districts (seggi) Forcella and Porto (port). The family prospered in the following centuries and has spread out to all parts of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Famous people with the surname Quaranta
- Bob QuarantaBob QuarantaBob Quaranta, pianist, received his B.M. in music theory from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. For over ten years, he was a member of Mongo Santamaría's band and served as musical director. Additionally, he composed songs for the band, five of which appeared on Mongo's recordings...
- musician, composer, musical director - Gianni QuarantaGianni QuarantaGianni Quaranta is an Italian production designer and art director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design and the Nastro d'Argento for Best Production Design for La Traviata . He won the Oscar for Best Art Direction for the...
- Italian production designer - Ivan QuarantaIvan QuarantaIvan Quaranta , also called "il Ghepardo" is a former Italian professional road bicycle racer.-Squads:*1996 - Team Polti*1997 - Team Polti*1998 - KRKA-Telekom Slovenije...
- International cyclist - Santino QuarantaSantino QuarantaSantino Quaranta is an American soccer player.-Youth:Quaranta partially attended Baltimore's Archbishop Curley High School for his freshman and sophomore years, where he started both years, and was recognized as one of the top soccer players in the state...
- American soccer player