Barbiellini

Barbiellini is a noble family of counts, a title obtained from an assembly in Rome during the Pontifical State. Before this, the Barbiellini originally came from the family of Conti di Sant'Eustachio, an ancient family which lasted from 700 to 1477 and was a descendant of the King of Antiochia. The first member of the family was said to be a man who traveled all over the world with Ferdinand Magellan. The family combined by marriage to the Amidei on 20 April 1749. In 1800 there was a wedding of Filippo Barbiellini Amidei with a Lelmi or L'elmi, a rich family that only had a female issue, and in order to maintain their name, they came to an agreement so that the last name could be kept and would become Barbiellini Amidei Lelmi. The Barbiellinis still live mainly in Rome and Elba.

Notable figures

A Count Alessandro Barbiellini Amidei was mentioned in historical records transacting with representatives of the Benedictines who wanted to construct a monastery and school of Sant' Anselmo in Rome. Having heard of the difficulty in finding an appropriate and viable site for the edifice, the count volunteered to sell a property he owned, which was a wedge-shaped site on the western peak of the Aventine beside a parcel of land owned by the Knights of Malta.[1] The deal was concluded swiftly and to this day, it is the home to the Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino church, monastery, and college.

The Count Bernardo Barbiellini Amidei emerged as an important political figure between 1920 and 1940. He was the son of the daughter of Anna Rosa Gattorno, who was beatified in the 9th of April 2000. Count Bernardo was the founder of a school in Naples, which teaches oriental languages. In his honor, a street in Rome was named after him. He was also ian adherent of fascism and credited to have founded one of the earliest dopolavoros on record in Italy.[2] An account revealed that by 1923, the count and his cohorts were the undisputed arbiter of the life of the province of Piacenza and "were now dedicating themselves to social work and worker education and presided over cultural, educational, and welfare associations of singular importance."[2]

The children of Bernardo Barbiellini Amidei with the Countess Anna Maria Pullè are (in descending age order):

• Rosanna Barbiellini Amidei, an Italian art historian;
• Gaspare Barbiellini Amidei, a famous Italian journalist and writer;
• Guido Barbiellini Amidei, a famous Italian physicist, involved in the discovery of the top quark;
• Silvia Barbiellini Amidei; and,
• Carla Barbiellini Amidei.

One of the possessions of the Barbiellinis was a mansion in the center of Rome which was then sold at the end of the nineteenth century to the State and a palace in Placense. In Elba island, another mansion was given first to Napoleon and then it was transformed into a museum. The family is now very numerous and is even related to a marquise, Clarice Barbiellini Amidei de' Medici Tornaquinci, who descended from the family of the Medici Tornaquinci of Florence. A castle in San Martino was then sold from the husband in the second marriage, to a rich owner of an industry who later on donated it to the Church. The family's villa at San Martino in Elba was sold to a convent and is now the Park Hotel Napoleone, a 4-star hotel. Some properties and a few castles still remain part of the Barbiellini family.

References

1. Engelbert, Pius (2012). Sant'Anselmo in Rome: College and University; From the Beginnings to the Present Day. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780814637135.
2. de Grazia, Victoria (2002). The Culture of Consent: Mass Organisation of Leisure in Fascist Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN 0521526914.