Photograph dated 2 March 1888, brought from Palma Campania, Napoli, Italy, to Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, around 1912 by Maria Soletta Normandia, my grandaunt.

Does anyone recognize the Normandia man in the photo? I would like very much to know his first name and where he belongs on my family tree.

Salvatore Vasta, of the Italian Front Group, was kind enough to identify this uniform in the photograph.  He is quite an authority on uniforms from 700 b.c. to 1945, and not just Italian uniforms either. He creates historically accurate uniforms for re-enactors and collectors. His response to my June, 2005, email is  printed here with his permission:

    "The man in the photo is a Carabiniere corporal. The Carabinieri are military police that have police duties like U.S. State Troopers, but are part of the Italian Army and can be called to fight, like any military unit, or today they are widely used for peace-keeping missions."

For more information about the Carabinieri, here is a link to the English language translation of an Italian website about the Carabinieri Force.

---

email: contact @mysticplanet.com
 (Remove the space after contact in the email address)

Back to list of unidentified photos from Italy

 
Copyright 2003-2013 Mystic Planet