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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Ardizone Joseph
1790–1793Co-partner of the firm Juan Bautista Eustaquio Pedemonte y Compañía, according to the company note entered in the register on 1 July 1790. With his brother Tomás he belonged to the Genoese group that held 52 shares of the Real Compañía de La Habana, deeply involved in the Cuban slave economy. The dividend, 1,300 pesos, was paid out on 13 April 1793 and collected on their behalf by their attorney Felipe Victorio de Ravara.
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Ardizone Tomás
1790–1793Brother of Joseph Ardizone and, with him, co-partner of the firm Juan Bautista Eustaquio Pedemonte y Compañía. The group held 52 shares of the Real Compañía de La Habana, deeply involved in the Cuban slave economy. The total dividend, 1,300 pesos, was collected on 13 April 1793 through the attorney Felipe Victorio de Ravara.
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Ayrolo Pedro Maria
1631THe financed the voyage of the slave ship Santísima Trinidad, owned by Nicola Salvago, together with Benito Vitale. The ship sailed from Spain to Luanda, and then transported enslaved people to Buenos Aires.
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Banfi y Montoto María Catalina
1781–1784Only daughter and universal heir of José Banfi y Parrilla, a banker of Genoese origin, knight of the Order of Calatrava and minister of the Supreme Council of the Indies. By an executory decree of the Council of Castile of 2 March 1781 she obtained full and independent administration of her dowry and of her father's estate. On 24 July 1784 she appeared in person at the offices of the Real Compañía de La Habana, deeply involved in the Cuban slave economy, and collected the dividends on her 14 shares, what remained of the 16 in her father's inventory.
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Banfi y Parrilla José
until 1781A banker of Genoese origin, knight of the Order of Calatrava and minister of the Supreme Council of the Indies, he died before 1784. His inventory included 16 shares of the Real Compañía de La Habana, deeply involved in the Cuban slave economy, with a nominal value of 500 scudi of 128 quarti each, later reduced to 14 and registered in the name of his daughter María Catalina.
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Bieluto Alberto
1660–1679 (decade)A Genoese merchant active in Cádiz, in the 1660s and 1670s he was a partner in the expeditions of the asiento ships to the Caribbean. The same network included Giovanni Battista Porrata, Giovanni Rolato, the brothers Giovanni Battista and Pantaleo Grasso, Pietro Del Forno and Giovanni Battista Priaruggia.
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Centurione Giorgio
1737–1745A Genoese nobleman, son of Lorenzo Centurione. His will, drawn up in Genoa in 1737, provided for the division of assets and bequests consisting of shares of the South Sea Company, the company holding the asiento for the slave trade. Those assets were encumbered with legacies in favour of family members, fellow confraternity members and Genoese charitable institutions.
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Centurione Ottavio
1617A Genoese financier active in Madrid, in 1617 he received from the Crown 3,750,000 maravedís secured on the renta de los esclavos negros, the fiscal revenue generated by the slave trade, and later resold the credit in lots.
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De Mari Stefano
c. 1560A Genoese banker resident in Naples, around 1560 he purchased through his brother Nicolò two galleys for 35,000 ducats, intended to be provided under asiento to the Spanish monarchy. The contract included fifty enslaved men per galley and an annual allowance of 6,000 gold ducats for each, secured on the fiscal payments of the Kingdom of Naples.
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Del Forno Pietro
1660–1679 (decade)A Genoese merchant settled in Cádiz, in the 1660s and 1670s he was a partner in the expeditions of the asiento ships bound for the Caribbean. The same network included Giovanni Battista Porrata, Giovanni Rolato, the brothers Giovanni Battista and Pantaleo Grasso, Giovanni Battista Priaruggia and Alberto Bieluto.
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Doria Gio Stefano
c. 1631–1647He supported the company of his relative Nicola Salvago, active in the distribution and sale of enslaved people to Buenos Aires.
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Durazzo Giacomo Filippo
1770–1790A member of the Genoese aristocracy, son of Marcello Durazzo. Concerned about the sums invested by his father in the asiento of the Compañía Gaditana de Negros, he sought information from his agent in Cádiz, the naturalised Genoese Joseph Antonio Mosti, and in 1772 ended his participation in the enterprise. In 1779 he sought the intermediation of Francisco Cambiaso and his son José María, but the collaboration did not take hold. In 1783 he was receiving correspondence from José María Enrile from Havana. In 1784 Joseph Sigori entrusted him with the sale in Genoa of a cargo of indigo and American goods. He also attempted to establish himself as an importer of Portuguese goods in Genoa, turning to Giuseppe Salomone in Lisbon in order to enter the networks of the great merchants.
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Grasso Giovanni Battista
1660–1679 (decade)A Genoese merchant active in Cádiz, in the 1660s and 1670s he took part in the expeditions of the asiento ships to the Caribbean together with his brother Pantaleo Grasso and the partners Giovanni Battista Porrata, Giovanni Rolato, Pietro Del Forno, Giovanni Battista Priaruggia and Alberto Bieluto, who formed a single Cádiz network.
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Grasso Pantaleo
1660–1679 (decade)A Genoese merchant active in Cádiz, in the 1660s and 1670s he took part in the expeditions of the asiento ships to the Caribbean together with his brother Giovanni Battista Grasso and the partners Giovanni Battista Porrata, Giovanni Rolato, Pietro Del Forno, Giovanni Battista Priaruggia and Alberto Bieluto.
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Grillo Francisco
1701Heir to the business house of his uncle Domenico Grillo, who with Ambrogio Lomellini had managed the asiento de negros, and Marquis of Villafranca. He was the only Spanish subject to enter the Real Compañía de Guinea y del Asiento, the French company which in 1701 obtained the monopoly of the slave trade to Spanish America. He took part in it through the Genevan banker Verzure, purchasing shares of 3,000 livres which entitled him only to the profits, without access to management or to the shareholders' meetings.
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Imperiale Francesco Maria
1654–1655He financed the voyage of the slave ship Nuestra Señora de Guapelo y Guadalupe, which was owned by Giovanni Battista Piuma Campodonico and was set to transport enslaved people from Luanda to Santo Domingo in the Caribbean.
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A Cádiz firm described as a cartel of Ligurian investors, holder of 52 shares of the Real Compañía de La Habana, deeply involved in the Cuban slave economy. The company note of 1 July 1790 lists the brothers Joseph and Tomás Ardizone as co-partners.
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Lercaro Stefano
1576–1587In 1576, he and the Florentine Giacomo Bardi invested in the Mina Company, which was established by the Casa da Índia to administer the slave trade and the trade of raw materials in Guinea. This was one of the most profitable enterprises in Portugal. At the same time, he undertook diplomatic activities between the Republic of Genoa and Portugal, sometimes in direct contact with the king. In 1587, he and his partner Giulio Spinola obtained authorisation to open an exchange bank in Lisbon. This gave them a monopoly, as the agreement excluded the opening of similar banks by others for ten years.
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Montesisto Giuseppe
1765–1772Genoese consul in Cádiz, he invested in the Compañía Gaditana de Negros and thus in the slave trade to the Spanish colonies.
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Montovio Giovanni Battista
1654–1655He financed the voyage of the slave ship Nuestra Señora de Guapelo y Guadalupe, which was owned by Giovanni Battista Piuma Campodonico and was set to transport enslaved people from Luanda to Santo Domingo in the Caribbean.
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Porrata Giovanni Battista
1661–1670A Genoese merchant active in Cádiz, between 1661 and 1670 he was a trading partner of the asiento and took part in the expeditions of its ships to the Caribbean. He belonged to the same Cádiz group as Giovanni Rolato, the brothers Giovanni Battista and Pantaleo Grasso, Pietro Del Forno, Giovanni Battista Priaruggia and Alberto Bieluto.
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Priaruggia Giovanni Battista
1660–1679 (decade)A Genoese merchant active in Cádiz, in the 1660s and 1670s he took part as a partner in the expeditions of the asiento ships to the Caribbean, together with Giovanni Battista Porrata, Giovanni Rolato, the Grasso brothers, Pietro Del Forno and Alberto Bieluto.
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Rolato Giovanni
1661–1663A Genoese merchant and partner of the asiento in Cádiz between 1661 and 1662, he was investigated for smuggling in the Indies. He belonged to the same trading network as Giovanni Battista Porrata and the other Cádiz partners who took part in the slave-trading expeditions in the Caribbean, including the Grasso brothers, Pietro Del Forno, Giovanni Battista Priaruggia and Alberto Bieluto.
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Saluzzi Giacomo
1632–1636Through his representative, Antonio Balbi, he claimed the dividends from a shipment of enslaved Africans undertaken with Antonio del Campo and Benavidez. He also claimed 84,500 ducats for cargo shipped to the Indies in 1632. It seems he also benefited from licences granted by Philip IV's court in the 1630s, linking him directly to those granted to Nicola Salvago.
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Salvago Ambrogio (o Ambrosio)
1603–1609At the beginning of the seventeenth century he invested, together with Francesco Serra, in the asiento of the Portuguese Gonzalo Baez Coutinho.