People database
People from the Italian peninsula involved in the Atlantic slave trade and slavery, 15th–19th centuries. Search by name or filter by role, place, network and period.
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Barbieri Esteban
1789–1804The Buenos Aires census of 1804 recorded that he arrived in the city in 1789. Aged fifty, he owned a grocery shop, a furnished house, five enslaved people, and 1,000 pesos.
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Basi Francisco
1764–1804The Buenos Aires census of 1804 records that he arrived in the city in 1764. He was a miller and owned two enslaved people and 2,000 pesos in silver. He lived in a rented house.
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Belgrano Peri (Pérez) Domingo
1757–1780A native of Oneglia, in 1750 he emigrated to Cádiz, where he Hispanicised his surname to Pérez, and a few years later he moved to Buenos Aires, where he became one of the richest Ligurian merchants of the Río de la Plata. He traded in enslaved people imported from Brazil and started commercial operations with the Banda Oriental, France and Great Britain.
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Caneva Andrea
1776–1804He arrived in Buenos Aires in 1776 and married Juana Balerga there. He was a merchant and owned two shops, two houses, half a ship and nine enslaved people.
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Capanegra Agustin
1816–1827Like other Genoese, he farmed rented land. He owned a house in a quinta in the Buenos Aires area and no fewer than fourteen enslaved people.
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Carnilia Francisco
1773Originally from Genoa and resident in Buenos Aires, the legitimate son of don Juan Bautista Carnilia and doña María Antonia Porta. In his will of 1773 he directed that on his death Pedro, an African man he held in slavery, be freed, acknowledging his good services and loyalty.
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Cota Horacio
1633–1639Appointed by Nicola Salvago as agent in Buenos Aires, with the task of supervising the sale of enslaved people.
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Foresti Luiz
1823–1830Registered as Italian and a music teacher, on 9 April 1829 he departed for Buenos Aires with his wife Maria Foresti, his daughter Virginia, a minor, a maidservant (criada), an enslaved person and an Italian woman, probably also in service.
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Gallino Domingo
1800–1826At the beginning of the nineteenth century, he appears in the census of enslaved people as a merchant and the owner of three enslaved individuals. Through trade (he opened a wholesale outlet) he purchased two buildings in the city, in calle Belgrano, and two properties in the vicinity of Buenos Aires: an estancia, where he raised cattle, sheep and horses, and a large plot with timber woods. During the war, he lent the government 408 cows, 123 horses, and eight enslaved people, worth 11,000 pesos. These were returned to the family in 1831.
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Granea Francisco
1827He was a pasta maker and owned three enslaved people. He lived with Vicenta Rissotto, an Italian woman from Montevideo, and their seven children, who were aged between 14 and 18.
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Luqui Bartolo
1816–1836A Genoese resident in district 14 of Buenos Aires, between 1816 and 1836 he lived with his wife, five children and three enslaved people.
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Malaboto Juan Pablo
1639Captain and trusted man of the Genoese Nicola Salvago, he organised voyages and deliveries of cargoes of enslaved people, probably coming from the Luso-African factorías.
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Maza Mateo
1767–1784His presence in the Río de la Plata dates back at least to 1767, when he figured among the owners of the licensed pulperías of Buenos Aires. In 1783 he sued Felipe Zeballos over the ownership of an enslaved woman. The powers of attorney he signed in 1784 attest to his commercial interests in Chile, to which he sent several lots of yerba mate and other unspecified goods.
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Merlo Antonio
1717–1718 -
Montar Francisco
1804–1827He farmed rented land and owned three enslaved people in the Buenos Aires area.
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Moro Angel
1827He owned one enslaved person alongside his partner, Ángel María Pensay. They both worked in partnership with Francisco Granea.
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Naon Luis
1843He declared that he owned four enslaved people, 700 silver pesos, and two quintas in San José de Flores, near Buenos Aires. As well as being involved in direct production, he had interests in retail trade; a census from the early nineteenth century lists him as a pulpero. Over time, he maintained and expanded both activities. Upon his death in 1843, his estate was valued at 698,216.5 pesos and included a pulpería, several warehouses, five quintas and other properties.
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Olivari José
1807–1827A pasta maker, married to a woman from Montevideo, he had four children and owned four enslaved people.
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Pallavacino (Palavecino) Pedro
1770–1799His will includes an estate of 44,109.7 pesos: four houses in the city centre, a bakery with three grain mills, six enslaved people and 17,000 pesos in cash.
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Patron Benito
1787–1809In 1787 he was commissioned by the sultan to import enslaved Algerians into Morocco. In 1796 he received from the Spanish Crown a licence to import 8,000 enslaved Africans into Peru, Buenos Aires and Chile, in exchange for raw hides and silver. In 1803 he obtained a licence, valid until 1809, to introduce 10,000 enslaved Africans into Cuba.
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Patron Lorenzo
1749–1790He owned three large properties and twelve enslaved people.
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Pensay Angel Maria
1827He owned an enslaved person alongside his partner, Ángel Moro. They both worked in partnership with Francisco Granea.
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Rizo Bartolo
1804–1819By 1819, his assets included two ranchos worth 8,097 pesos, four enslaved individuals, two pairs of oxen, five draught horses, a cart, and 1,000 pesos in cash. He provided credit to other Ligurians who wanted to buy land.
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Suparo Santiago
1770–1804After emigrating to Buenos Aires in 1770, he got married and had nine children. He owned a farmhouse (quinta) and nine enslaved people.