Italian Peruvian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| About 1,400,000 descendants | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Lima, Lambayeque, Arequipa, Callao (La Punta District), Tacna, Trujillo, Ica, Moyobamba, La Merced, Junin | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish, Italian | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Italian people, Italian Brazilians, Italian Uruguayans, Italian Argentines, and Italian Chileans |
An Italian Peruvian is a Peruvian citizen of Italian descent. The phrase may refer to someone born in Peru of Italian descent or to someone who has immigrated to Peru from Italy. Among European Peruvians, Italians were the second largest group of immigrants to settle in the country.
Between 1532 and 1560, 50 Italians established in Lima (Viceroyalty of Peru) and Callao, mostly from Liguria and Tuscany, such as Martin from Florence, Pietro Catagno, Pietro Martín from Sicily (all of them involved in Atahualpa's capture), Juan Bautista Pastene, born in Genoa in 1505 and also present since the beginning of the Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire. It is worthy to say that, in 1584, the first printing press was brought to the Viceroyalty of Peru by an Italian named Antonio Ricciardi Pedemontanus.
Radicati di Primeglio has done an exhaustive research about Italians in Lima and he found the well-documented existence of 343 Italians in Lima between 1532 and 1650 (this number can vary because many Italians were not registered). From these 343 Italians: 124 were from Genoa, 28 from Venice, 28 from Corsica, 15 from Naples, 11 from Milan, 10 from Rome, 5 from Sicily and the rest from other Italian states. Italians from Genoa used to work in the transport of passengers and merchandises between Callao and other Viceroyalty harbors to Panama. We can mention to Captains Giustiniani y Vicenzo Pascuale, who founded many navigation and trade enterprises between Callao and Valparaiso; Giovanni di Malta, Nicolo da Bonifilio, Alvaro Pastrello, Giovanni Gaetano; Enrique Porri from Milan, Lucas de Astra from Genoa; Nicoroso y Marcos Corso, captain Alessandro Malaspina.
...
Wikipedia