Italian immigration in Brazil

According to the data of the embassy of Italy de Brasília, 15 million Brazilian is downward Italian immigrants . They are dispersed in all the States Southern and South-eastern areas of the Brésil, being to be almost half of the population of the State de São Paulo. This population is regarded as most important of oriundi (downward of Italians) out of Italy.

History

What do you understand by Nation, Mister the minister? Is this the mass of the dissatisfied ones? We orderlies and cut corn, but we never taste with the white bread. We cultivate the vine, but we let us not drink the wine of it. We raise the animals, but we let us not eat the meat of it. In spite of that, you advise us not to give up our Fatherland. But is this a Fatherland which the ground where cannot live of its own work? - anonymous sentence of an Italian immigrant at the end of the 19th century to the Italian minister of state who asked him not to leave Italy.

The Italian immigration in Brazil was important, with for apogee the period of 1870 with 1920. The greatest part concentrated in the State de São Paulo.

The Italians started to emigrate of significant number for Brazil as from the years 1870. They were pushed there by the socio-economic transformations in progress in the North of the Italian peninsula which touched especially the land ownership. One of the aspects particular to this movement is that it started to occur the Italian unification shortly after (1871), reason for which the national identity of these immigrants was forged mainly in Brazil.

Until 1920, this movement human brought 1 243 633 people in Brazil.

Italian colonization in the South

The first Italians arrived at Brazil in 1870. The Brazilian government stimulated European immigration, particularly after 1850, when the traffic of the African slaves was abolished in Brazil; the immigrants replaced labor slave. The Italians settled initially in the Southern area of Brazil, where the colonies of immigrants were being established, established by the Brazilian Government at the beginning of the 19th century. These colonies were created in the rural areas of the country of the Serra gaúcha, in the State of the Rio Grande C Sul, in the current towns of Garibaldi and Bento Gonçalves. They came in majority from the Venezia, in the North of the Italy. Five years later, in 1875, the great number of immigrants obliged the Government to found a new Italian colony, with Caxias C Sul. The Italians spread themselves in various parts of the State and much of other colonies were established, in particular in the high mountains and areas, because the low grounds were already occupied by the immigrant German. On these grounds, they started to cultivate the Raisin and to produce Vin. Currently, these areas produce the best wines of Brazil. Always in 1875, the first Italian installations of the States of Santa Catarina were founded, with Criciúma and Urussanga, and of the Paraná.

In the colonies of the South, the immigrants could gather in their own ethnicity, where they could speak the Italian and maintain their culture and traditions. This migratory movement was very important for the economic development of southernmost Brazil, just as for its culture and the ethnic formation of its population.

Italian labor for the Coffee of South-east

Although the Southern area was pionnière of Italian immigration, it was the South-eastern area which accepted the majority of the immigrants. This is due to the process of expansion of the coffee plantations in the State de São Paulo. With the end of the traffic slave trader and the success of Italian colonization in the South, the government paulist (of the State de São Paulo) encouraged the Italian shift in population towards the coffee fields. This one began as from the years 1880. The same owners of the fazendas (firm) of coffee dealt with attracting the Italians towards their properties. The government financed the voyage to Brazil, and the immigrant was to then work in the fazendas to refund the transport costs.

The Italians generally emigrated in family. The landowners ( fazendeiros ) were accustomed to make work slaves and had of only one blow to manage free employees. Many of them were subjected to day's works similar to those the slaves. This situation generated many conflicts between the immigrants and the fazendeiros, causing rebellions and revolts. The news of work semi-slaves arriving to Italy, the Italian Government started to complicate the emigration towards Brazil.

After the abolition of slavery in Brazil, in 1888, the Italians became an important source of labor and started to spread themselves in the States of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. The destiny of the majority was the agricultural work. Much of them succeeded however, after a few years of work to the harvest of the coffee, to save the money necessary to buy their own grounds and to become in their turn fazendeiros. The others left for great urban centres such as São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Curitiba and Belo Horizonte.

Italians in the Brazilian cities

The bad work conditions in the campaigns of Brazil made that the Italians left quickly towards the urban centres, in particular São Paulo.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the great majority of the workmen of São Paulo were Italian. Majority of the first large industrialists paulists - among whom the Matarazzo and the Crespi - set up the powerful group known as of the " counts italiens" , whose prevalence was exceeded since. In the Brazilian urban centres, the Italian immigrants were crucial for the industrialization of the cities and their social organization. They were implied many in the strike movements and took part in associations, leagues, trade unions and newspapers generally of socialist and anarchistic orientation, fighting to improve their work conditions and of life, which were hard and unhealthy.

Areas of origin

The preference of the Brazilian government for the Italians of north was obvious: the area was - and continuous of being the place more developed country. Thus, the immigrants brought to Brazil the already advanced techniques of industrialization and the new ideas for the modernization of this country. The departures were made mainly Trieste, Naples and Genoa.

Source: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia E Estatística (IBGE)

Decline of Italian immigration

The regular news of the bad working conditions, the conditions unworthy in the fazendas of coffee of Brazil made fall the Italian emigration, and directed them towards the the United States and the Argentine. Italian immigration however continued to be important until in 1920, when Benito Mussolini and its nationalist government is reflected to control the shifts in population. With the Second world war and the declaration of war of Brazil against Italy and the improvement of the Italian economy, Italian immigration decreased drastiquement.

Language

To date, almost all the Brazilian Italian descendants speak the Portuguese like native tongue. But there is still a minority of 500 000 people who speak Italian, the majority whose uses a dialect, the " Talian" , spoken in the wine-growing zones about the Rio Grande C Sul.

Italian was interdict in Brazil in the years 1930 by the president Getúlio Vargas, after the declaration of war against Italy. Any manifestation of the Italian culture was regarded as a crime. This contributed to the disaffection of the Italian language among the descendants.

The Italian influence in Brazil

The Italian immigration in Brazil inspired many artistic, televised and cinematographic achievements (series TV), and, especially, the film O Quatrilho, which was presented á the Oscar of best foreign film.

The Italian influence is also felt in various aspect of the culture of Brazil:

the use of “tchau” ( ciao ) as greeting (in all Brazil)
the practice to eat the pizza pie and the spaghettis frequently (South-eastern)
Production of wine (Southern)
Words of Portuguese of Brazil, as will paura , polenta , etc
the introduction of agricultural novel methods (Minas Gerais, São Paulo and in the South of the country)

See too

External bonds

Italian Immigration on the site of the IBGE (in Portuguese)
the Bertin family in Brazil (in Portuguese)

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