Italian South Africans

Italian South Africans (Italian: Italo-sudafricani) are South Africans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. They are primarily descended from Italians who emigrated to South Africa during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Language and religion[]

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Most Italian South Africans, like other South Africans, are Christians. The majority of them are Roman Catholics although there is a Protestant minority.

All the remaining first-generation Italian South Africans speak Italian and also English or other South African languages as second language.

The Italian South Africans of the new generations are assimilated into South African society, and most of them speak mainly English as first language with a handful that speak Afrikaans and Zulu but still secondarily Italian (and sometimes French).

Notable Italian South Africans[]

Sport[]

• Oscar Pistorius, South African sprint runner and convicted murderer
• Carlo Del Fava, South African-born Italian former rugby union player
• Lorenzo Masselli, South African-born Italian former rugby union player
• Giulio Giuricich, South African footballer
• Alessio Angelucci, South African baseball player
• Davide Somma, South African footballer
• Dino Quattrocecere, South African figure skater
• Ramon di Clemente, South African rower and Olympic medalist
• Dylan Frittelli, South African golfer
• Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer
• Hugh Baiocchi, South African golfer
• Orazio Cremona, South African shot-putter
• Giulio Zorzi, South African swimmer
• Andrew Northcote, South African-born Italian cricketer (born to an Italian South African mother)
• Angelo Gigli, South African-born Italian basketball player
• Dario Chistolini, South African-born Italian rugby union player
• Damian Crowley, South African-born Italian cricketer (born to an Italian South African mother)
• Eddie Firmani, South African-born Italian former footballer
• Marcello Fiasconaro, South African-Italian former athlete and one-time men's 800 metres world record holder
• Jade Dernbach, South African-born English Cricketer (born to an Italian mother and South African father)
• Craig Bianchi, South African former footballer
• JJ Gagiano, South African-born American rugby union player
• Vince Pennazza, South African-born Italian cricketer
• Mike Bernardo, South African kickboxer and boxer

Business[]

• Desmond Sacco, Chairman and Managing Director of Assore Limited, worth just over $1.4 billion.

Radio & TV[]

• Amor Vittone, Afrikaans singer and TV presenter (Italian father).^[2]
• Debora Patta, broadcast journalist and television producer.
• Tullio Moneta, Actor.
• Vittorio Leonardi,South African stand-up comedian and actor.
• Karin Giannone, South African-born BBC English television newsreader.

Politics[]

• Belinda Bozzoli
• Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, constitutional lawyer and politician of the Inkatha Freedom Party.
• Natasha Mazzone, South African politician and Chief Whip of the Official Opposition (since 2019)
• Elizabeth Maria Molteno
• John Charles Molteno
• John Charles Molteno, Jr.
• James Tennant Molteno

Other[]

• Carlo Gagiano, former Chief of the South African Air Force.
• Don Mattera, anti-apartheid activist, poet and author.
• Edoardo Villa, South African sculptor.
• David Ferraris, racehorse trainer.

See also[]

• Italian diaspora
• Italy–South Africa relations
• White South Africans
• Italian Zimbabweans
• Italian Americans
• Italian Canadians
• Italian Australians
• Italians
• White Africans

References[]

External links[]

• South African Chamber of Commerce^{[permanent dead link]}
• Italian embassy in Pretoria
• Italian consulate in Cape Town
• South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Italy
• South African embassy in Rome