Frequently Asked Questions

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written by titto@kamus.it

What are these "Assini" anyway ?

Assini is the name of an italian family.
Many members of the family left Italy at the beginning of the century. In that period Italy was a very poor country and many, many italians tried to find a better life in quickly developing countries such as the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Australia etc.
So now, two or three generations after this "Big Bang" of the family, the Assinis live in many different countries, speak different languages and they are sometimes even of different "races" (for example my daughter is a "pure" Assini yet she is half italian and half chinese!).

What is the origin of the family ?

Who knows ?
As far as I know the Assinis come from a village named S.Marco dei Cavoti in the province of Benevento (in Italy naturally).
S.Marco is not very old, it was founded around 1450 by a group of frenchmens (that probably came from Gap, a nice small town in the south of France).
The Assini family live there from at least 100 years and probably from much longer.
My father says that originally we came from an other village, Montefalcone (a smaller village at about 15 km from S.Marco).
There is actually no definitive evidence that S.Marco is the real original bithplace of the family.
For example there is another branch of the family that (apparently) came from Modena. Look at the Josè's Point of View for more details.

Last but not least, according to a research made by Barbara Assini, Aunt of Mark Assini it seems that the origin of the family is to be found .... in Florence.

A curiosity:
The famous latin poet Catullo wrote a small poem about a certain Marrucinus Asinus.
I remember (poorly) a small part of it:

Marrucine Asini, manu sinistra
non belle uteris in ioco atque vino,
tollis lintea negligentiorum,
...

(I'm very sorry for my broken latin but a long time has elapsed from when I studied it. If someone can find the real text of this small poem please let me know!).

Apparently this Marrucinus Asinus had the pretty stupid habit of stealing the napkins (lintea) of other guests while dining at Catullo's home.
While this is not the kind of ancestor that one might desire, his brother (Asinius Pollione) was a VIP of ancient Rome, a good friend of Catullo and the protector of an important group of intellectuals.
The gens Asinia was a very important family originating from a town of northern Italy (Padova maybe? I can't remember exactly).
It's very, very unluckily that there is any relation between the Assini and the gens Asinia but ... who knows ?

How many branches of the family exists?

I'm aware of three branches of the family all from S.Marco dei Cavoti.
Most of these people emigrated to the USA and possibly to other countries.
Then there are at least a couple of branches in Brazil and certainly many others both in Italy and in the rest of the world.

So how many Assini are there now ?

In Italy this family name is very uncommon, I don't think that there are more than 100 or 200 Assini.
It will be easy to find out when the Phone Books of most countries will be searchable through the Web.
My bet is: "between 500 and 5000 Assini in the whole World".
What's your bet?

Who is the youngest/oldest living Assini ?

The youngest Assini that I know is my son Leo. He was born on the 7th of February 2000.
The oldest Assini that I know is my uncle Massimo, he is now about 70 years old. I'm sure that there are much older Assinis out here.

Are we really relatives ?

Yes, but not really!
The name Assini is a rather uncommon family name with no particular meaning.
So we can suppose that most existing Assinis do really have a common ancestor.
Yet we are not really "relatives" neither in a legal nor in a "genetic" sense.
Only the single branches of the family are still "real" families.

I think that there is only one thing that all Assini still have in common, their name.
A name is just a symbol, but if you think of how powerful the symbols can be .... well it's more than enough.

Are all Assinis named "Assini" ?

No, according to Josè Assini Perdomo, there is a branch of the family, living in Brasil, named "Azzini".
Look at Josè}s Point of View} for details.

Is "Assini" just a family name ?

Not really.

Are we wiser, nobler or holier than other people ?

No, no, no.
As far as I know no Assini ever became a great scientist, a saint, a benefactor of the human kind, a prince or a king.
We appear to be a quite normal and "average" family.
While at first glance this doesn't seem very inspiring I think that it makes our history much more interesting.
As we are, "just as everyone else", our history can be the history of millions and not only our own.
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created: 11 November 1996 revised: 16 July 2008
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