The story of our family starts in our "remembered" history with five brothers from a small town in Agrigento province of Sicily, Santo Stefano Quisquina. Three of the brothers, Vincenzo, Stefano and Ignazio, came through Ellis Island on their way to Tampa, Florida to start a new life when they were only teenagers. The younger brothers, Rodolfo and Dionigi remained in Santo Stefano with their parents, Paolo Pizzuto Antinoro and Angela Capitano. While I am a newcomer the family history and three generations removed from my Sicilian roots, our Sicilian cousins today have remarkably deep knowledge of the family history which has been passed down. Perhaps the oldest family history is best remembered by Paolo Pizzuto and family who live today in Santo Stefano.

The brothers first arrived at Ellis Island under the surname of Pizzuto Antinoro, and immediately changed their name to Antinori. My personal opinion on the name change to Antinori is that all the brothers (and other family members) used the name because they knew it was the original name of the family from further back in history, and used the opportunity to set the record straight in the new country. Secondly, It is a well known fact that many Italian immigrants were pressured to shorten their family names when going through the immigration procedures to facilitate a speedier processing. Immigration officials did not care about getting the proper spelling of long foreign surnames for these new immigrants and simply registering under a shortened name of Antinori would make it easier and quicker to get through the processing line and into their new country.

Since the Antinori name is not originally of Sicilian origin, we believe that an Antinori from northern Italy, probably Florence, came to Santo Stefano in the 1600s or 1700s to work for the Ventimiglia family, the Prince of Belmonte, who was the feudal lord in the region. The Belmonte "castello" is on the Piazza Castello, where the Pizzuto Antinoro's live today.

Our family may have a connection to the wealthy Antinori family originating from Tuscany. It is the same family currently making the wine in Italy, and whose incredible Palazzo Antinori can be visited in Florence. Ron Antinori had an unexpeceted chance to gain entrance to the Palazzo in Florence several years ago by simply knocking on the huge door. When the "butler" answered, Ron mentioned that he was an Antinori, and the lady of the house showed them a huge family tree on the wall. She asked him to point out where on the family tree we fit in, and he said that we are of the "Sicilian" branch of Antinoris. The genealogy conversation soon ended at this point but Ron was invited to take a tour of the grape vineyards of the Antinori family estate.

The Pizzuto surname may have originated between the marriage of a wealthy oldest daughter of the Pizzuto family and a younger son of the Antinori family. Her wealth and doury enabled her to keep her surname in addition to that of her husband's. I am still currently trying to research the derivation of the Pizzuto Antinoro family in Sicily.

It should be noted that Paolo had a brother also named Ignazio, and his descendants also came to Tampa. Furthermore, there is a separate family line of Pizzuto Antinoros in Santo Stefano descending from a Salvatore and Francesca Ciccarello, though fewer members of this family came to Tampa. I am still researching the relation of Salvatore to the ancestors of Paolo. The two family lines come together with the marriage of a Vincenzo, son of Ignazio, and a Francesca, descending from Salvatore. Vincenzo and Francesca managed a groceria in Ybor City, Tampa. See the Tampa City Directories for a cross reference.

Ignazio, Stefano and Vincenzo Antinori were below the age of 18 when they arrived from Sicily. Ignazio and Stefano arrived together at Ellis Island on the ship Tartar Prince on November 16, 1899. The manifest states they were going to an Uncle Spoto's house in Tampa, to see their older brother Vincenzo.  They were on the boat with the Capitanos as well. Giuseppe Capitano and his wife Lucchina were traveling with their daughter Maria and son Antinino.  The mother of the Antinori boys was Angela Capitano, so they were probably related.

Our ancestors came to Tampa because of jobs in the cigar factories.  At first they came to farming jobs in St. Cloud (Kissimmee) and it had nothing to do with the climate, which is totally different in Santo Stefano.  There are mountains and ice and snow in the winter and cool weather except in august! The mountains of Sicily have no "tropical" aspect to them. The St Cloud sugar cane farm was a popular destination for sojourning Sicilians from Santo Stefano Quisquina in the Maggazollo valley of Agrigento province.  At first many Stefanesi came with the intention of returning to Santo Stefano after earning enough money, however, as the quality of life did not improve in Sicily, and employment and land owning opportunities were still poor for the peasants, our ancestors decided to immigrate permanently to Tampa.  The St Cloud work dried up when Ybor city began to provide increasing employment opportunities for the Italians. 

Nonno Antinori was a foreman in the cigar factory and Nanna Angelina rolled cigars. He proposed to her there. They married with a horse drawn carriage. It was one of Tampa's finest weddings. Nanna Angelina's sister, Aunt Giovannina married uncle Vincent so it was two brothers married to two sisters.

Uncle Vincent and Uncle Rudolpho were the most literate of the brothers. Vincent was a lector for the factory workers and read Dante and the great Italian classics to them while they rolled cigars -- also the daily newspapers from Italy. This was a great source education and current events for the workers. Uncle Vincent died of a heart attack making a fiery oratorical speech against the fascist in Italy. Mussolini was selling out to Hitler and uncle Vincent was very passionate about this happening.
 
I can still vividly remember my mother waking me up in the baby bed upstairs at 704 Braddock street to tell me Uncle Vincent had died last night. Uncle Steve (zio Stefano) the oldest of all the brothers managed the Italian club and had the canteen concession there. Uncle Vincent was secretary of the Italian club (l'Unione Italiana).

Uncle Steve's two sons are Paul Antinori and Dionigi Antinori. My cousin Joe (Dionigi) is alive and well in Tampa and has been very close to me over the years. He was my confidant when I was state attorney and I often turned to him for advice long after my father was deceased.  He is in his 80's but looks more like a fifty-year-old man. He is no doubt the oldest Antinori possessed of all the family history beside myself.

Many in our family learned to speak Spanish living in Ybor city, although many Cubans and Spanish speakers in Ybor city never learned to speak Italian.

Our house on 704 Braddock street was built on a lot given to Ignazio by Mr. Barcellona, who owned most land out on Dale Mabry at the time.  Paul Sr. did not want to build the house on Braddock Street but instead wanted to have the house on Bayshore Blvd.  The Braddock street house was a block away from the Trafficantes, and much more luxurious, made of brick, not wood.  Both Governor Sholtz and Cuba’s Machado were visitors to the Braddock street house in the early 30’s.

Ignazio and Paul Sr ran the El Trocadero club in Ybor City in the late 1930's.

From reading Trafford Cole’s book, I saw this as a possible explanation for the name change:

From Trafford Cole's book "Italian Records", page 31

Occasionally, the name was deliberately changed to avoid apprehension by the Italian authorities for some offense committed in Italy.  The most common offense was draft evasion.  As stated, all Italian males were obliged to report for the draft at age eighteen.  Emigration was not allowed until after a young man had served his military duty or was exempted.  Purposely avoiding the draft or emigrating before completing their military service put the young man at odds with Italian law.  Therefore, to avoid being traced, they often deliberately changed their surnames and falsified their birth dates.

Of course, clerical errors upon arrival in Ellis Island may also explain the minor change in name.

In addition, the surname of Pizzuto is a still mystery to me.  A possible explanation could be as follows, as stated in Cole’s book on page 29.

More common, however, is the beginning of a second family name through marriage.  In northern Italy, most families owned property.  When a family had no sons, the first daughter had rights of inheritance.  These women were much sought after because they provided a means for the second or third born male in a family to acquire property and have a family.  Quite often, when she married, such a woman’s surname became the second family name of her husband.  This name was kept for her children, thus forming a new family line.