Author Michele Antonelli Shares Wisdom from Abruzzo
Author Michele Antonelli streamed his presentation to the AMHS live from Italy
On February 21, 2021, AMHS members were treated to a talk live-streamed from Abruzzo by author Michele Antonelli, who spoke about the “wit and wisdom” in the local proverbs he had collected over the years from family members and others. Because the talk was virtual, we had participants from as far away as California and Western New York State. Antonelli wrote a book, “My Land Was Wise: Over 2,000 Proverbs from the Abruzzese-Sabine Apennines,” and shared some of the highlights with us. The book groups the proverbs by topic and draws from them the dominant moral values of the traditional rural communities.
Antonelli’s talk focused on the ones dealing with superstitions common in Abruzzo, food and drink, colorful expressions, family, choice of spouse and other topics. At the beginning of this talk, he introduced us to his beautiful white shepherd dog, named “Leone,” which he noted is a special breed of dog found in Abruzzo. In introducing our speaker, AMHS President Ray LaVerghetta noted that Antonelli has been an information consultant since the mid-1980s and had lived overseas, which gave him another perspective to look at his own land culturally. Antonelli noted that he had lived in Pakistan and that he had married a foreigner, which made him further realize
Abruzzo proverb: Quello che non strozza ingrassa (What does not choke you, makes you fat)
Back home, he noticed people were forgetting their dialect and traditions, and so he decided to collect proverbs from the older people and family members, especially his aunt. The proverbs he quoted to us rhyme in the dialect, so of course they lose something in translation. He used his list to map the culture by topics, and he was able to identify the dominant aspects of the local traditions and to examine why they were useful in society. Antonelli noted that his town, near Montereale in the province of L’Aquila, saw its population drop from 8,000 to 2,487 inhabitants in 100 years, and he wanted to analyze the change. He noted the close ties the community once had, when neighbors would share sugar, salt and even baby cradles.
He recalled that when one local farmer got sick in 1971, the whole village harvested his wheat. One of the categories of proverbs he spoke about was superstition. He noted that although the townspeople were deeply religious, superstitions were a way to understand such diverse things as the weather, owls, leap years and even marriages. He gave this as an example of a commonly known proverb: Persona vista va in vista (in English, we would say “talk somebody up”). Also, “accept husbands, wives and children as God sends them” (meaning, don’t be too choosy). Regarding food and drink, one proverb says, “running water doesn’t harm people, still water produces wars” (meaning, it’s better to express feelings than keep them bottled up inside).
Another one is Pomodoro e sale non vanno ad ospedale (“tomato and salt, you never go to the hospital”). One of the funnier ones says, Quello che non strozza ingrassa (“what does not choke you, makes you fat.”) And one of the more appropriate ones for Abruzzo says, “the sheep who eats grass lives as long as the wolves eating meat.” When it comes to greedy people, the proverb says, “with one daughter, he would like to have 100 sons-in-law.” Or you could say, as far as big eaters, “it’s better to buy him an outfit than invite him to lunch. ” When it comes to lazy people, the saying is “he looks for work and prays to God not to find it.” If someone is just incompetent, you could say “he can neither speak nor be silent.” In talking about corruption, one colorful proverb says, “he has put the wolf to watch the sheep” (we have made the wolf the shepherd). If there is corruption all around, the saying is, il più pulito teneva la rogna (“the cleanest of all has mange”).
Another one says, “poor sheep, poor goats — the dog gets along with the wolf” (examples would be priests who get along with rich people instead of the poor, or police who get along with criminals). This saying about bad weather is memorable: “Not even the devil leaves his house to get a soul.” And if you want to curse someone, how about this? “I wish you to listen to the Mass lying down” (in other words, the way dead people lay). Of family relations, one says, “close relatives (parenti stretti) are like shoes, the tighter they are, the more they hurt.” And as far as getting married: “If you get a wife, you have troubles; but if you don’t, it’s even worse.” And he said this one may even have a Russian origin: If you find someone better than me, you will forget me; if you find someone worse, you will remember me.” And finally, “if you want to experience Hell, summer in Puglia and winter in Abruzzo. ” Antonelli has spoken to Abruzzese groups in Bolivia and Argentina, and he has also written a book on the former Yugoslavia. ❚
Michele Antonelli’s book of proverbs
is not yet available on Amazon in North America, but it is possible for the author to ship it to the U.S. Mr. Antonelli is offering a discount to AMHS members of 33% off the cover price. In addition, the publisher has agreed to a shipping charge of 50 Euros for 5 copies.
Individual orders would cost 25 Euros to ship, so orders should be consolidated to realize considerable savings. If you are interested in ordering a copy,
please contact
Ray LaVerghetta at